MONSOON MANOR Ft. Jinkx Monsoon

The legendary Jinkx Monsoon is on the show this week, and it’s been a long time coming!! Drew and Jinkx talk her starring role in Oh, Mary! on Broadway, being a kitchen witch, loving feet, vabbing, bad weed trips, Jinkx’s signature ratatouille dish, casting spells, and so much more. Jinkx IG: https://www.instagram.com/thejinkx/ Follow The Comment Section on IG! https://www.instagram.com/thecommentsection/ Visit heytoogoodandco.com http://heytoogoodandco.com to shop now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  I have never been too stoned for the airport, but I have been that

• 0:05Drew Afualo?

  That was the only time.

• 0:06Speaker 00

  Where I'm like, everyone knows.

• 0:08Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 0:09Speaker 00

  I have to act extra normal, but then I'm like picking up cookies like.

• 0:14Drew Afualo?

  Yeah. You're like, this is what humans do.

• 0:17Speaker 00

  12 chocolate chips.

• 0:23Drew Afualo?

  You're counting tile.

• 0:24Speaker 00

  Meal, you say? I'll try a scoop of barkeep.

• 0:37Drew Afualo?

  Hey, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the comment section show. Sorry, me, your fave. Everybody knows me, who cares about me. Onto the guest that we have, a living icon, a living legend. Oh, my God, I can't believe it. The one, the only Jinkx Monsoon.

• 0:51Speaker 00

  Oh, my gosh. Thank you, Drew.

• 0:53Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my God, I'm honored to have you, queen. This episode is presented by Too Good & Co Creamer. My go-to coffee is an iced vanilla latte personally, but whether you enjoy your coffee hot, cold, bold, or frothy, if you want to take it up a level, Too Good Creamers make every sip a good one. Why? Because they're made with farm-fresh cream, real milk, and contain 3 grams of sugar per serving. That's 40% less than the 5 grams per serving in leading traditional coffee creamers for a rich, creamy, and delicious experience. Find Too Good Creamers in the Creamer aisle.

• 1:26Speaker 00

  Is your mom at every episode?

• 1:29Drew Afualo?

  She sure is.

• 1:30Speaker 00

  I love that.

• 1:31Drew Afualo?

  I think out of like 200-something, she's only missed like maybe two of them.

• 1:35Speaker 00

  What happened?

• 1:37Drew Afualo?

  Something, a meteor hit her house. That was the only thing that could keep her from here.

• 1:40Speaker 00

  That's awesome. I love a family business.

• 1:43Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my God, yeah. And my business is for real a family business. I try to keep everything in-house.

• 1:48Speaker 00

  Yeah, you know, me and my chosen family pretty much do it all. It's like everyone I live with also helps me in my work, so we're all just like monsoon manner. It's like a commune, you know? Jinkx Monsoon is an amalgamation of a lot of people's hard work.

• 2:07Drew Afualo?

  I say that all the time. I'm like, it is, I am standing on the shoulders of my family. They prop everything up for me. And honestly, if I, if I ever need something or someone, I'm like. I probably know someone in my family that can do that.

• 2:20Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 2:20Drew Afualo?

  I'd rather do it that way.

• 2:21Speaker 00

  You know, you can do it solo. We can all find our ways of doing it, but when you, when you get to do it the way you always wanted to, you know. I grew up in a big, full house. I'm just used to a lot of people being involved in my business.

• 2:39Drew Afualo?

  Honestly, same. I also like, when I travel, I take like, people with me all the time, like the same people. I always bring like, my fiance, I always bring my sister, my hair and makeup artist who's also my cousin.

• 2:50Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 2:50Drew Afualo?

  And then also Carrie, my assistant. I like, take all my, my little people with me everywhere I go.

• 2:55Speaker 00

  My friend assistant, Skye, we've known each other for 20 years. We were like, kids together.

• 3:01Drew Afualo?

  How does that work when you're 25?

• 3:03Speaker 00

  Oh, well. Um, uh, I was a baby genius.

• 3:08Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 3:10Speaker 00

  No, Skye and I met like, around the same time I started drag.

• 3:14Drew Afualo?

  Oh my god, sweetie.

• 3:15Speaker 00

  What's really special about, um, traveling and doing things these days with the people who have been with me so long.

• 3:24Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 3:25Speaker 00

  Is, Skye saw the very first iterations of what became my whole career, you know? And we're talking like, 17-year-olds in an all-ages queer dance club putting on drag shows themed around Romeo and Juliet. You know, like, just we-

• 3:43Drew Afualo?

  And loved you through it.

• 3:44Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 3:45Drew Afualo?

  Oh, that's amazing.

• 3:46Speaker 00

  And, uh, we, we had a good time. We did Rocky Horror way back when and now, you know.

• 3:52Drew Afualo?

  Exciting.

• 3:53Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 3:53Drew Afualo?

  That's crazy, how full circle.

• 3:55Speaker 00

  Yeah. I'm not doing Rocky Horror, but I have, I have a lot of friends in it, so congrats everyone.

• 3:59Drew Afualo?

  I just mean you circling back around and like, now you're on Broadway again. The same people in tow. I think that's amazing.

• 4:05Speaker 00

  It's, yeah, it's been, it's been a fun time in life in spite of things.

• 4:12Drew Afualo?

  That's all we can do. My sister and I were joking about this literally yesterday that like, everything is so terrible. I think because we were talking about the time change and she was like, "Do you like the time change?" And I was like, "I don't know. We're at war." "I don't know. I don't know. We're at war. I don't know anything."

• 4:28Speaker 00

  Daylight savings time. I know. It's just kinda, we woke up that day and I was like, "The oven clock's wrong. Is it the day?" Did we spring forward? And, and Skye just goes, "Oh."

• 4:44Drew Afualo?

  So that was your confirmation?

• 4:45Speaker 00

  Yeah, that was the confirmation.

• 4:46Drew Afualo?

  That we did in fact. But I was telling her-

• 4:47Speaker 00

  I remember it used to be an event.

• 4:51Drew Afualo?

  An announcement. I know, real. Someone would shout it from the town square. And now, I was like, "Now we have to find joy in very small things. We have to." I've joked about this many times. I joked about this with Chapel when I had her on, but I was like, "Everyone that works for me and with me is gay."

• 5:06Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 5:07Drew Afualo?

  Whether half gay or full gay, all of them gay.

• 5:09Speaker 00

  The entertainment industry has always been largely generated by and support, supported by the queer community.

• 5:20Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 5:20Speaker 00

  And, um, you know, it's, it's just now the ratio to like queer performers being-

• 5:28Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 5:29Speaker 00

  On stage and in front of the light-

• 5:32Drew Afualo?

  And seen.

• 5:32Speaker 00

  Is much larger, but like, and, and being vocal about your queer glam squad. It's like, "Why, why keep it a secret?" But then there's a lot of men who just happen to be straight who also work with us and they're nice too.

• 5:48Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, and they're alright. They're alright. They're a guest in the house, but they're alright.

• 5:54Speaker 00

  If they can chill, they can-

• 5:56Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, as long as they take their shoes off and act accordingly, yeah, they'll be alright. I know, I feel like recently I had to let, uh, someone go, but it was like one of the few straight people on my team, straight man.

• 6:07Speaker 00

  And you were afraid you were gonna look like-

• 6:10Drew Afualo?

  Prejudice.

• 6:10Speaker 00

  You're heterophobic.

• 6:11Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I look like I'm reversing D E I that way.

• 6:14Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 6:15Drew Afualo?

  I'm doing it the opposite way. But I literally was like, I need only girls and gays.

• 6:20Speaker 00

  Girls and gays.

• 6:21Drew Afualo?

  I'm sorry, they're gonna get the job done. I don't know what to tell you.

• 6:23Speaker 00

  Femmes and theys.

• 6:24Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, femmes and, there you go. I need it.

• 6:26Speaker 00

  Well, it's just, you know, there's, there's different types of energies. There's type A, type B people, there's people like me, and there's assholes, you know, there's like.

• 6:42Drew Afualo?

  You're not type A or B? What would you, you're somewhere in the middle?

• 6:44Speaker 00

  I thought I was type A, but um, it turns out no.

• 6:49Drew Afualo?

  Girl, but my chosen family is still the other ones.

• 6:50Speaker 00

  I don't really know the difference, which probably makes me type B.

• 6:55Drew Afualo?

  Yes, it would, yeah. I'm, I'm more of a type A. But I will say there's an asterisk next to it because I have extremely type A friends. So when they're with me, I, I get to, I get to be dumb. I get to be so useless. I get to be type B.

• 7:09Speaker 00

  I, I worry more about the, my sign being a Virgo. We, we have the same birthday.

• 7:15Drew Afualo?

  Yes, we're both Virgos. We do have the same birthday, that's right.

• 7:18Speaker 00

  Oh my god. I, I'm like a quintessential Virgo.

• 7:22Drew Afualo?

  Me too.

• 7:22Speaker 00

  And so I love being in charge, but if I can't be fully in charge, then I just play dead. I'm like.

• 7:31Drew Afualo?

  You just pull a possum.

• 7:32Speaker 00

  As soon as someone's like, yeah, we can do it your way, but just kind of more like this, I'm like, oh, well, then it's not my way, is it?

• 7:38Drew Afualo?

  And then I guess you got it. I guess you got it. Go ahead, take it. I feel the same way.

• 7:45Drew Afualo?

  I feel the same exact way.

• 7:47Speaker 00

  But I also like, I've had so many friends of different signs with qualities I admire, that I've learned to kind of like selectively micromanage. Like if I'm gonna hire a glam team, or a PR person, or, or whomever.

• 8:06Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 8:07Speaker 00

  I really like to trust. That they know how to do their job.

• 8:11Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 8:12Speaker 00

  And not try to micromanage things and then only speak if absolutely necessary.

• 8:17Drew Afualo?

  You're so me. Same thing, same with me. I'm very like, sometimes I'm like, I'mma let you do your thing.

• 8:22Speaker 00

  Well, I want the, I want the same trust, right?

• 8:25Drew Afualo?

  Likewise.

• 8:26Speaker 00

  If I give you the same trust, then you'll trust me when I really like speak up and say, wait, no, that can't happen.

• 8:34Drew Afualo?

  Sometimes you gotta get in there, of course.

• 8:35Speaker 00

  Sometimes you gotta get in there.

• 8:37Drew Afualo?

  Just a little bit, just let me get in there, just a little bit. I know, cause in the beginning, for a while, when I started doing this, I, I was still like buying my own flights, I was still booking my own hotels. Like, I was still doing all of that stuff myself because I was like, I need to be able to control and know where we're going, when we're going, that kinda thing. When I got a travel agent, I was like, whoa.

• 8:55Speaker 00

  It, when you're at the place where you can start hiring a team and, and delegating things. What it means is you get to focus way more on the creative aspects of your job and being your best self.

• 9:10Drew Afualo?

  Totally.

• 9:11Speaker 00

  And when you get to bring people along with you, it feels like, one, there's the benefit of bringing like home with you on the road.

• 9:20Drew Afualo?

  Yes, exactly.

• 9:21Speaker 00

  It's like, I know that this person has always wanted to do this and so they get to come with me and we're all having fun.

• 9:29Drew Afualo?

  You're so me.

• 9:30Speaker 00

  But it's, those kind, if you're like gonna include the family and the friends, it means including the relationship work.

• 9:39Drew Afualo?

  I know.

• 9:39Speaker 00

  I always tell people like, if you wanna hire family and friends, be ready to do the emotional work with them.

• 9:45Drew Afualo?

  Right, you're so right, yeah.

• 9:48Speaker 00

  But if you need to be like emotionally distant from your team, just hire strangers. But like, to, to work with the chosen family, the.

• 9:57Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, there's pros and cons to it.

• 9:59Speaker 00

  Whomever, if they're close, personal people, it's like you're making a choice to take that on to your existing relationship.

• 10:08Drew Afualo?

  And it's always, it can be the best or just the worst.

• 10:12Speaker 00

  But you never know until you try.

• 10:14Drew Afualo?

  Exactly.

• 10:16Drew Afualo?

  Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to trial it. No, I feel the same way and I feel like sometimes when I, I feel like I have to say something. I'm always very like, God, I hate when you make me act like a boss. Don't make me do that. I don't wanna have to do that. I wanna be real chill, I wanna be super chill.

• 10:31Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's, you know, it's, it's all a fun little dance, girl bossing, isn't it?

• 10:40Drew Afualo?

  And it is hard sometimes.

• 10:41Speaker 00

  It is hard. And then it's also like, I don't know, do you ever just like, okay, a lot of people keep bringing up to me, like, what would your child self say? And I'm like, especially with the aspects of like claiming my gender identity and going full throttle in so many directions in my life.

• 11:04Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 11:05Speaker 00

  Um, you know, the kid version of me had really come to accept that not all of this was going to be possible, either because I was queer or because of the body I was born in or the perception of who I was.

• 11:21Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 11:21Speaker 00

  Um, and along the way, I just kind of, with that in mind, carefully edged that out and pushed those boundaries and now I'm here. So it's like, I guess because I can see all the steps along the way, it's really easy to not take it for granted. It's really easy to be like, I'm very grateful for this.

• 11:44Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 11:45Speaker 00

  Because I worked really, really hard for it.

• 11:47Drew Afualo?

  Hell, yeah.

• 11:47Speaker 00

  But, um, but then there are the days where it's like, did I really think this through?

• 11:56Drew Afualo?

  I get it. Especially with the internet, girl. I get it. I fucking get it. It's so like, could I go get a real job? Like, I think that sometimes.

• 12:06Speaker 00

  What do I do now?

• 12:07Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I'm like, well, I kind of burn those bridges. What am I gonna do?

• 12:12Speaker 00

  This is kind of it for the long run.

• 12:14Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I was like, if I don't do this, I don't know what's gonna happen.

• 12:16Speaker 00

  I can't remember how to do math.

• 12:18Drew Afualo?

  No, me either. I really am like, I'm fucking useless. I'm so useless outside of this job.

• 12:25Speaker 00

  And then there's like, and it would be annoying to hire me.

• 12:28Drew Afualo?

  I agree. I'm such a personality hire. Oh, my God, that too. Yeah, like people coming in.

• 12:35Speaker 00

  I can't promise my past won't haunt.

• 12:38Drew Afualo?

  Like worse than as ex-worker. My past is gonna haunt us far worse than that, I promise.

• 12:43Speaker 00

  Oh, my boyfriend won't call, but people will be calling.

• 12:50Drew Afualo?

  People who don't know me at all are gonna be checking up on me. That's so funny.

• 12:53Speaker 00

  Keep me in back.

• 12:54Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my God.

• 12:57Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna have to be in the back. I'm gonna be up to washing dishes for sure. That's, if you had, okay, if you had to pick another job, like, let's say you stopped doing this, what job do you think you would want to do?

• 13:09Speaker 00

  Well.

• 13:09Drew Afualo?

  If you had to.

• 13:10Speaker 00

  For me, the obvious choice is teacher.

• 13:13Drew Afualo?

  Oh, love that.

• 13:14Speaker 00

  But what I think I'd actually really be happy doing is, um, uh, head chef of a restaurant.

• 13:23Drew Afualo?

  Do you like to cook?

• 13:24Speaker 00

  Without the training, you know, I'd, I mean, I need, I'd need to go get the training. It's not like I have a culinary degree, but I do love cooking.

• 13:33Drew Afualo?

  Oh, love.

• 13:34Speaker 00

  It's, for me, as a witch.

• 13:36Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 13:38Speaker 00

  I feel like I'm very much a kitchen witch and I express myself through, um, acts of service and.

• 13:46Drew Afualo?

  Love.

• 13:47Speaker 00

  My magic is expressed through my, my toil and my crafts, you know?

• 13:52Drew Afualo?

  Love that. I didn't know you, I didn't know you loved to cook. That's amazing.

• 13:56Speaker 00

  I do.

• 13:56Drew Afualo?

  Do you have like a special dish that is like your favorite to make?

• 13:59Speaker 00

  Everyone, um, I, I won't shut up about my radituri, so it's also become my signature dish, but it's like, it just looks the coolest to present, but I also do really good chicken and dumplings. I got really good at fried chicken over, um, uh, lockdown.

• 14:22Drew Afualo?

  Damn, that sounds good as hell.

• 14:24Speaker 00

  Yeah, I, I like to think I'm a good cook, but I can't cook small, dainty meals. I cook, I cook for a family.

• 14:32Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, love.

• 14:33Speaker 00

  I always invite the neighbor.

• 14:35Drew Afualo?

  Oh, that's so nice of you.

• 14:38Speaker 00

  It's like I call people up, I'm like, I cooked enough for too many people, so please come eat tonight.

• 14:44Drew Afualo?

  I love that. I don't have any cooking skill whatsoever.

• 14:48Speaker 00

  What do you do if you have to make yourself something?

• 14:51Drew Afualo?

  My man makes it. And I sit there and I talk.

• 14:55Drew Afualo?

  I'm entertainment. I literally made a vegan mac and cheese for Thanksgiving one year as, and I was like, I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it for real. And then as soon as I started putting a bunch of cashews in a blender, which is the first step, mind you, I was like, god.

• 15:09Speaker 00

  Oh, why did I agree to this?

• 15:11Drew Afualo?

  I wanted to do this. And then he ended up finishing the rest of it. Because I got bored. I was like, I can't.

• 15:16Speaker 00

  May I ask, because we have the same birthday.

• 15:19Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 15:20Speaker 00

  When it comes to cleaning, are you an all or nothing person?

• 15:24Drew Afualo?

  In terms of like, deep cleaning kind of deal?

• 15:26Speaker 00

  Yeah, like, I either have to deep clean and everyone needs to get out of my way, or I'm gonna be able to stand the mess.

• 15:33Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, yes, yes.

• 15:35Speaker 00

  Because, because to like, kind of half-clean something drives me nuts.

• 15:39Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, because once I start, I can't stop.

• 15:41Speaker 00

  Yeah, so sometimes it's just kind of, I organize the mess until I can...

• 15:45Drew Afualo?

  Organize clutter.

• 15:46Speaker 00

  Organize clutter until the deep clean.

• 15:49Drew Afualo?

  Yes, absolutely. That's exactly how I clean too. My man described the other day, he was like, "You're the most type A person I've ever met, but you're also like, extremely type B about very specific things." Are you that way too?

• 16:00Speaker 00

  I...

• 16:01Drew Afualo?

  It's just very certain tasks, I just can't be bothered.

• 16:04Speaker 00

  I'm very particular just about everything.

• 16:06Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 16:07Speaker 00

  And I'm even particular about the things I don't want to care about. Like, I'm very particular about what questions just not to bug me with.

• 16:18Drew Afualo?

  I know what I don't like. You know what I mean? I get that.

• 16:21Speaker 00

  Everyone in my life knows, she's not gonna give a shit, so just do... Like, don't even ask her, or she's gonna give you a speech about why she doesn't care.

• 16:31Drew Afualo?

  You're so me. You're so me. Like, literally, my agent, she's like, my day one girl, like, she's been with me forever. As my team has grown, she's still my day one. There are some questions she doesn't even bother me with, because she's like, she's gonna hate that. The answer's no. Like, she's gonna hate that, and don't ask her in person.

• 16:49Speaker 00

  And that's how... And that's how you form a real good team.

• 16:53Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 16:54Speaker 00

  Is the people who make the decisions you would have made yourself.

• 16:57Drew Afualo?

  Right, exactly.

• 16:59Speaker 00

  And the people who actually like what they're doing.

• 17:02Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 17:03Speaker 00

  You know, eh eh, like, working on Broadway or working in theater.

• 17:08Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 17:08Speaker 00

  Not a lot of people make it to Broadway with an ambivalent attitude.

• 17:13Drew Afualo?

  Exactly.

• 17:14Speaker 00

  Towards theater. These are like theater kids who grew up.

• 17:18Drew Afualo?

  To their core.

• 17:19Speaker 00

  And became theater adults, right?

• 17:21Drew Afualo?

  Yes, exactly.

• 17:22Speaker 00

  And that's true for the people in the crew. That's true for the designers. Like, to choose theater is to choose a whole lifestyle.

• 17:31Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, totally.

• 17:31Speaker 00

  Especially when you're doing eight shows a week.

• 17:33Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 17:34Speaker 00

  And that's true for the crew who has to be there to operate everything and to call the cues and everyone. So, it's like, you become part of this really weird club.

• 17:46Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 17:46Speaker 00

  And I love it. It's like, the, I, I've never felt more myself than when I can turn to someone and be like, "What a cool Brechtian device."

• 17:59Speaker 00

  And they're like, "Truly, truly."

• 18:00Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, yeah. And they're like, "Oh, my god, right?" They're having the same exact thought as you.

• 18:05Speaker 00

  But your face.

• 18:06Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 18:07Speaker 00

  About when I said Brechtian device, that's, that's what I'm used to.

• 18:10Drew Afualo?

  Exactly. I was gonna talk about Oh, Mary. I really wanna talk about Oh, Mary.

• 18:14Speaker 00

  Oh, Mary is very much like that.

• 18:15Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 18:16Speaker 00

  People who are very passionate about what they do created that show and, and are keeping it going.

• 18:23Drew Afualo?

  Yes, absolutely. Was Broadway always like a dream of yours?

• 18:27Speaker 00

  As soon as I found out there was a Broadway.

• 18:32Speaker 00

  As soon as I saw a touring show, it was like, I always knew I wanted to be an actor.

• 18:37Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 18:38Speaker 00

  And I knew I wanted to be in film and TV, but I, I always felt like there was something special about doing it in front of people.

• 18:47Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, totally.

• 18:48Speaker 00

  And I always really resonated with it. I also love the chance of things being unique every single night.

• 18:57Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 18:57Speaker 00

  Like, when you work in film and TV, it's about getting the very perfect delivery of every single line and weaving this tapestry, knowing that it'll live forever.

• 19:09Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 19:09Speaker 00

  But live entertainment is like... Part of the experience is knowing that everything that happens tonight, even if it's well rehearsed, is completely unique because there's no way

• 19:22Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 19:22Speaker 00

  to do it exactly the same.

• 19:24Drew Afualo?

  That's such a beautiful way of looking at it.

• 19:25Speaker 00

  And the spontaneity, the aliveness of it is part of the craft.

• 19:31Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, absolutely.

• 19:33Speaker 00

  And Oh Mary is so meticulously written and directed and styled and everything about it is the best of the best people putting their passion into it. Cola Skull and Sam Pinkleton, they were a dream team. They're good friends. I cannot celebrate them enough.

• 19:57Speaker 00

  Doing that show just felt like the coalescence of everything I've ever wanted to be and I was doing it because friends of mine made it possible. It just felt very cosmic, you know?

• 20:12Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, totally. And beautiful, like.

• 20:14Speaker 00

  It was very beautiful. And now I feel really ready for whatever's next.

• 20:19Drew Afualo?

  That's so fucking incredible. I love Broadway. I don't have a singing bone anywhere in my body.

• 20:26Speaker 00

  You don't have to. There's plays on Broadway too.

• 20:29Drew Afualo?

  I know. I was thinking about that too, but I want to do Broadway specifically for singing.

• 20:33Speaker 00

  Well, there's character parts that don't need to sing. There's always parts like that.

• 20:38Drew Afualo?

  I'm an ensemble bitch. I already know.

• 20:40Speaker 00

  Ensemble? Performers are the hardest working people.

• 20:44Drew Afualo?

  And every lead says that. I don't want to hear it. Cynthia Revo told me that too.

• 20:52Speaker 00

  It's no.

• 20:52Drew Afualo?

  It's true, though. I know it's true.

• 20:54Speaker 00

  It is true, but it's like, it's not just a soundbite because listen, like, I, I, okay, especially in Chicago. I would sit there as Mama Morton. It's part of my like blocking to sit and watch a handful of the numbers. And I'm watching. I'm watching people swap roles midday, like in the morning, one woman's doing this role and another person's doing this role. And then in the evening, it's everyone else, but they all, they can just tag each other in. Everyone knows each other's parts. And, and then they know my part too. Like three of them know my part too. And so it's like, it's not just blowing smoke.

• 21:35Speaker 00

  It's like to get, that's why it's harder to replace an ensemble performer than it is a lead.

• 21:42Drew Afualo?

  Interesting.

• 21:43Speaker 00

  You can replace, you, you, like if a lead drops out, just find someone else like them. An ensemble person, it's like, find someone who can sing, dance, um, do stage combat sometimes, and can learn seven parts by opening.

• 22:00Drew Afualo?

  Well, now I am thinking things. Maybe I can be on Broadway, just in the background.

• 22:08Speaker 00

  Cameos, baby.

• 22:10Drew Afualo?

  I know.

• 22:10Speaker 00

  Metamoralable barely sings.

• 22:13Drew Afualo?

  That's true, you're right.

• 22:15Speaker 00

  I love that part, but she's like, many years.

• 22:18Drew Afualo?

  Right, I mean, I could do a talk sing thing. Lin-Manuel Miranda does it. What if I just played Hamilton? Like, that would be great.

• 22:26Speaker 00

  Yeah, just play Hamilton.

• 22:28Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 22:28Speaker 00

  There you go.

• 22:29Drew Afualo?

  I'll gender bend Hamilton.

• 22:32Speaker 00

  Why don't you just do a one-person Hamilton? That'll get their attention.

• 22:37Drew Afualo?

  And I'm just ripping off the mustache.

• 22:40Drew Afualo?

  To switch roles. I love, I talk to all my friends who love Broadway about it. Like, I just, I love Broadway, I love everything about it, I just don't have the chops, unfortunately.

• 22:48Speaker 00

  Well, know thyself, you know? Like, I know that I am not good at everything. And so I just do my best not to do those things.

• 23:05Drew Afualo?

  It's a great rule of thumb.

• 23:07Speaker 00

  You know?

• 23:08Drew Afualo?

  And as a Virgo, though, I like to think, sometimes I think, I'm like, I think singing is one of the few things I don't feel this way about. Where when I see it, I'm like, give me a couple hours. I'd probably master it.

• 23:18Speaker 00

  Well, singing, okay, so there are things.

• 23:25Speaker 00

  That are helpful to be born with. Rhythm.

• 23:28Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 23:29Speaker 00

  Intonation, pitch. But, lessons are there for a reason. And I went into my schooling with a lot of like, like I knew what I was doing with my voice for a long time.

• 23:47Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 23:48Speaker 00

  And now, I'm almost 40 and I have to sing eight times a week.

• 23:52Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 23:53Speaker 00

  And, big songs. And I'm not using my like, when I was young, I could just sing however I want and shout and tomorrow I'll sound just fine, you know? Like, now I'm using technique more than ever. So it's like, you can become better at something, but Virgos don't like to start at something that we don't believe we're gonna be good at quickly.

• 24:18Drew Afualo?

  Exactly, yeah. I was like, if I'm not the best, what's the point?

• 24:21Speaker 00

  If I can't pick it up pretty damn fast, it's like, it's why I still don't knit.

• 24:28Drew Afualo?

  Honestly, I think it was good that the universe didn't give me the gift of singing. I think my ego would be too big, honestly, I don't know.

• 24:35Speaker 00

  No superhero can have every power.

• 24:36Drew Afualo?

  Right, God doesn't give with both hands, that's what I think. I'm like, he hit me with the funny bone and said, okay, send that bitch down, she's done. No singing for you.

• 24:43Speaker 00

  But you all, look at your hair.

• 24:45Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 24:45Speaker 00

  Like, you don't, it's not like it just got the one thing.

• 24:49Drew Afualo?

  Right, well, would you believe, I do have extensions. Would you believe?

• 24:53Speaker 00

  I would believe, but it, I mean, it doesn't matter. I mean, look at you, you're glowing. There's more going on than just a funny bone.

• 25:00Drew Afualo?

  I know, thank God, thank God. I was like, he made me smart, the universe made me smart and also funny, but I just didn't get the gift of singing. But I've said before, because a lot of people, when I talk to them, and they're, they're good singers, performers for a living, they're like, you could always take lessons, like, they're like, you could definitely flex the muscle, maybe get better. And I'm like, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then sometimes I'll say like, don't let me find out I can sing. If I find out, I'm dropping an EP tomorrow. And then, I'm gonna go audition for Broadway.

• 25:30Speaker 00

  Like, if I could-

• 25:31Drew Afualo?

  Don't let me find out.

• 25:32Speaker 00

  If I could really dance.

• 25:35Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 25:35Speaker 00

  Like, I can get by dancing. I had a lot of training in dance, mainly because I was in love with a ballet dancer for too long.

• 25:44Drew Afualo?

  Oh my God, no way.

• 25:45Speaker 00

  And, and, and, you know, the getting was good in ballet, it's cool. Like, let's be honest.

• 25:51Drew Afualo?

  In ballet?

• 25:54Drew Afualo?

  Your Living Center stage, the movie? That's your whole life?

• 25:58Speaker 00

  But ballet dancers are hot, you know? It was hard to leave that world.

• 26:02Drew Afualo?

  And strong, too.

• 26:03Speaker 00

  But I really, I never really resonated well as a dancer. I always prefer to play the acting roles. I just wish I could dance better than I can because then I really feel like, move over, Selena Gomez.

• 26:23Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, you're Selena Gomez, I'm Benny Blanco. So how does that work?

• 26:28Speaker 00

  Well.

• 26:35Drew Afualo?

  What the hell was that? I never looked into it, but what was that?

• 26:39Speaker 00

  The thing is, is like, I feel like everyone in my world was like, so what?

• 26:46Drew Afualo?

  Gay people don't give a fuck.

• 26:49Speaker 00

  The only thing I thought was weird about it was why they did it in public. You know, like.

• 26:56Drew Afualo?

  Whatever you do behind closed doors.

• 26:58Speaker 00

  I kiss toes all the time, but I'm not doing it in the middle of a talk show. You know what I mean?

• 27:02Drew Afualo?

  You see them pushing that straight agenda on us? Nice. Whatever you do behind closed doors, I don't care. Just don't do it all in my face.

• 27:10Speaker 00

  But, I mean, like, as a woman who is not afraid of feet, I've been teased relentlessly on the internet for even mentioning anything.

• 27:21Drew Afualo?

  Regarding feet?

• 27:22Speaker 00

  Well, it's like, you know, it's the least taboo taboo now these days.

• 27:28Drew Afualo?

  Right, that's true, that's true.

• 27:29Speaker 00

  And at the same time, still a lot of people are like, not down. And that's fine. It's like.

• 27:34Drew Afualo?

  Like they hate feet kind of deal? And you like feet?

• 27:37Speaker 00

  I'm, I like feet. But listen, I was a gay man for 35 years, so it's like. Something stuck around.

• 27:48Drew Afualo?

  Something stuck around, what can I say?

• 27:52Drew Afualo?

  Oh, it's a crime to like be, take me away, coppers.

• 27:57Speaker 00

  No, I'm happy Selena Gomez is normalizing it and she's, she's doing it.

• 28:02Drew Afualo?

  She's making a huge difference.

• 28:03Speaker 00

  She's doing it for us.

• 28:04Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, for your community.

• 28:06Speaker 00

  So that I don't have to be the one to ride that banner into war.

• 28:11Drew Afualo?

  You standing behind Selena Gomez as she leads the charge on the foot-loving community?

• 28:17Speaker 00

  Towering over her.

• 28:20Speaker 00

  No, it's, I've just never been put off by them and I think maybe, I don't know, like, do you have kinks that are count, like clearly counter your sign? Like, I'm like, I'm like, I feel like, I feel like being in defeat isn't a Virgo thing.

• 28:41Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, that's true. I get what you mean. Yeah, I don't know if I have a kink that goes, I'm trying to think. I don't really have.

• 28:47Speaker 00

  Like, when a dude has a messy bedroom, it kind of turns me on. Cause I'm like, chaos.

• 28:56Speaker 00

  You don't have anything like that?

• 28:58Drew Afualo?

  Chaos.

• 29:02Speaker 00

  Cause I'm so about order that when I see chaos, I'm a little like, bad boy, you know?

• 29:06Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, no, that's a good point. I would say like, I didn't care about, like, I don't know, I think I was in fear when I was dating men, especially in college. I was like, oh, all of them are gonna smell bad. Like, I was like so convinced.

• 29:19Speaker 00

  Again, I'm not.

• 29:21Drew Afualo?

  And I just didn't care.

• 29:21Speaker 00

  The right person to talk to.

• 29:23Drew Afualo?

  I'm saying, but what I'm saying is I was afraid of that, but then when it came down to it, I really didn't care. As much as I thought I would.

• 29:29Speaker 00

  Well, here's the thing is, it's all comes down to chemistry.

• 29:33Drew Afualo?

  I agree.

• 29:34Speaker 00

  Right? Some people are gonna smell good to you and some people aren't.

• 29:39Drew Afualo?

  I was explaining that to one of my friends the other day and I was like, it's a very real thing, like the smell, the pheromone.

• 29:45Speaker 00

  I.

• 29:45Drew Afualo?

  Elicit.

• 29:46Speaker 00

  I think, you know, yeah, I mean, why, why do we wear perfume and cologne if it's not an important scent?

• 29:53Drew Afualo?

  Right, exactly. Have you heard of vabbing?

• 29:57Speaker 00

  Fabbing?

• 29:57Drew Afualo?

  Vabbing, with a B. Is that what it's called? Vabbing, right? Yeah.

• 30:01Speaker 00

  No, please tell me.

• 30:03Drew Afualo?

  Like, it's like basically when anyone who has a vagina, right? Uses the like discharge and puts it on their like neck, like a pheromone and then

• 30:13Speaker 00

  Right.

• 30:14Drew Afualo?

  Either spray something on it or just leaves it like that. But it's supposed to attract the mate. So, there you go, you're welcome.

• 30:21Speaker 00

  This makes sense to me.

• 30:24Drew Afualo?

  That's what I said, I said the same thing.

• 30:25Speaker 00

  In the queer community, it's literally like, lots of dudes specifically don't wear deodorant so that they will attract the guys who like their funk, you know?

• 30:37Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 30:38Speaker 00

  So, you know, it feels Celtic to me. It feels pagan, it feels like witchcraft, really.

• 30:46Drew Afualo?

  Indigenous, yeah, like, okay.

• 30:47Speaker 00

  I can't be against it.

• 30:48Drew Afualo?

  That's what I said, I said the same thing, I was like, well, low key, it's like...

• 30:50Speaker 00

  Logically, I don't, I can't be against this.

• 30:55Drew Afualo?

  And I know you said earlier, and I knew this already about you, that you're a witch. I'm a witch, I would like to, I call myself a witch in training.

• 31:01Speaker 00

  Yeah, well, I mean, kind of like, the first step to being a witch is making the choice to start practicing witchcraft, that's what my mentor said. I said, like, how do I, how do I become a witch? And she goes, "Find your connection to the divine feminine, find what interests you about witchcraft and start, start, start playing around, you know?"

• 31:24Drew Afualo?

  Start fooling around, yeah.

• 31:25Speaker 00

  And different people will have different opinions, but that's any craft or lifestyle or dogma, yeah, you know? And I don't like to think of it as my religion, it's very much my worldview and like, my perspective.

• 31:40Drew Afualo?

  I agree, yeah, it's spiritual practice in some way, spirituality is what I identify with more, I agree. My friend Tevi Pisoa, she's a witch, so she's been teaching me and my sister how to be witches. I bought books, I bought candles, got crystals, got all the works. And then we do moon water and stuff, on full moons, all that stuff, still learning.

• 32:01Speaker 00

  And as soon as you start giving it intention, you'll start noticing it.

• 32:07Drew Afualo?

  Right, I agree.

• 32:08Speaker 00

  Like, it's very much, as much as you put in... You'll get back from it. My mentor was Pam Gro- is Pam Grossman. We're good pals. She's a wonderful author. Waking the Witch is a great place to start.

• 32:22Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my gosh. Good to know.

• 32:24Speaker 00

  She did a blessing at my Carnegie Hall show. So we did like a mass spell at Carnegie Hall. It was very, very cool.

• 32:36Speaker 00

  That felt like one of the more punk rock things I've done in my life. I was like, Carnegie Hall subscribers, now give me your energy as I cast this spell.

• 32:47Drew Afualo?

  Also very gay.

• 32:49Speaker 00

  Very gay. And a little bit Ghostbusters.

• 32:52Drew Afualo?

  Yes. Oh, I love that. Oh, I'm obsessed with that. That's such a good idea. I love that.

• 32:59Speaker 00

  Yeah, I, I've been, so she said, you know, it's just about intention and, and, but she said specifically, it's about, in her definition, your connection to the divine feminine. And that does not mean only women can practice witchcraft, but it's acknowledging that witchcraft is an acknowledgement as, of femininity as the divine source of creation. Motherhood is where it all begins. And with Pam, our, our spell that we cast was very much about liberating the divine feminine,

• 33:40Speaker 00

  cleansing the divine masculine that's become, he's become a little, he's become a little jaded, you know? A little toxic. And, and setting free the divine androgen.

• 33:54Speaker 00

  So I, I really think we're in this like shift of consciousness towards gender and all this upset and all this fighting was just preparing us to realize that it wasn't worth it in the first place.

• 34:10Drew Afualo?

  No shit. For real. No, for real. And also, I, I, I love that too, because even one time, there was someone that I do not like because they're a bad person and a bigot, but they were talking shit on me or like basically implying they were talking shit on me, but for no reason. Like me and this person are not friends. We're not connected in any way. They were just being annoying. Uh, for like clout, attention, whatever you wanna call it. And I text my friend Debbie about it and I was like, we were talking about it and she was like, you know what you have to do, you have to do a spell. And so she taught me at it, she told me to write, like intention, like their name on a piece of paper, write like what I don't want them to do. And she was like, I never use this spell to like cause harm to anyone, which you can include in the prayer, whatever, when you put it in the jar.

• 34:55Drew Afualo?

  She had me write it all on a piece of paper, fold it up a million times, put it in a jar. Then I put a bunch of like sour things in there, like uh, just like bitter tart things in there, and then put it in my freezer. And then next day, nothing else. Like literally almost immediately, nothing else. And he was like teasing, this person was like teasing, talking about me.

• 35:15Speaker 00

  Do you know what I like to think?

• 35:16Drew Afualo?

  Hmm.

• 35:17Speaker 00

  I like to think that either way, you know, our brains are such powerful things.

• 35:24Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 35:25Speaker 00

  And we can give things so much power.

• 35:29Drew Afualo?

  Mm-hmm.

• 35:29Speaker 00

  And when I do a spell, similar to what you just said.

• 35:33Drew Afualo?

  Mm-hmm.

• 35:34Speaker 00

  It's like telling my brain, you've worried as much as you possibly can about this, and your brain can't fix this problem. But maybe this spell can.

• 35:46Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 35:46Speaker 00

  So you're gonna do this spell, and then from that point on, you're gonna stop thinking about it, cuz it's the spell's job.

• 35:52Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 35:53Speaker 00

  Because there are problems that you can't think away.

• 35:56Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 35:57Speaker 00

  And sometimes there are problems that you can't engage with, cuz like, that's, there's no reason to, you know?

• 36:04Drew Afualo?

  Mm-hmm.

• 36:04Speaker 00

  Um, so witchcraft to me, picks up where my psychiatry and therapy leaves off. It's like they help me identify what I have to focus on.

• 36:15Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 36:16Speaker 00

  Then witchcraft gives me a way to kind of physically do, the mental, yeah, the mental work that I know I'm actually aiming at.

• 36:25Drew Afualo?

  No, exact, I feel the same way, cuz I think to myself too, I'm like, even if this isn't actually doing anything, let's just say. It makes me feel better to do it this way and like you said, let it go.

• 36:37Speaker 00

  And and then the more you practice it, the less you question it, the more you just kind of. You don't have that conversation with yourself of like worrying if it's logical or practical.

• 36:47Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 36:48Speaker 00

  Because soon you just go, well, every spell has helped for one reason or another, whether it be psychosomatic or or spiritual.

• 36:58Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 36:59Speaker 00

  So now I don't have to question it anymore.

• 37:02Drew Afualo?

  Yes, exactly.

• 37:03Speaker 00

  I'm just gonna keep doing it because it works.

• 37:05Drew Afualo?

  Exactly.

• 37:05Speaker 00

  And it's not harming me or anyone around me and and in fact, like ever since I've started practicing witchcraft, it's made me so much more conscious of my impact on my environment, my impact on other people.

• 37:20Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, totally.

• 37:20Speaker 00

  It makes me think about like really being the person I want the world to see me as so that they treat me the way I want to be treated.

• 37:30Drew Afualo?

  Yes, exactly. Oh, my God, that's so true and I I say like, I say my prayers a lot too, but when I do, I pray, I don't pray to God necessarily. I pray to like my ancestors, the universe, right? The the spirit, right? And I always ask for guidance, especially in my career, like ever since I started doing this. I've done that forever, like as long as I can remember, but ever since I started doing this especially, I've been very intentional in my prayers and how I how and when I say them like and what I'm asking for. I just want to be very clear about like direction and every single time I've asked for guidance on on a very specific like business decision or like deal I want to do or maybe I'm on the fence about, I always get an answer and a very clear stark answer.

• 38:13Drew Afualo?

  And then that always ends up being the right answer, which is like you said, just in practice and doing it. It's like, well, now I don't need to question it. Now I know.

• 38:21Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 38:21Drew Afualo?

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• 39:02Drew Afualo?

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• 39:09Speaker 00

  I have had multiple times where a really cool offer has come my way, but it meant pulling out of other projects that I had already committed myself to. And I've just never operated that way. And I was like, I can't, just because the opportunities are bigger now, I can't change my ethics.

• 39:32Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, and how you move in the business.

• 39:34Speaker 00

  And then, both times, I made the difficult choice that I knew was right for me. And then, just like, shortly after, a different offer came that didn't require me to give up those other things.

• 39:49Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 39:50Speaker 00

  And it ended up being a lovely offer, you know? And it's like, you just have to sometimes trust that you know what you're doing.

• 39:59Drew Afualo?

  Yes, and trust, I always say like, it's my third eye.

• 40:01Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 40:02Drew Afualo?

  And I'm always like, saying too, it's like, the spirit. The spirit itself is speaking to me.

• 40:07Speaker 00

  Well, we are only conduits for energies that exist with or without us, you know? Those divine genders I was talking about. I mean, we can manipulate our perception, we can manipulate our relationship to them or how we worship them. But they exist with or without us.

• 40:27Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 40:27Speaker 00

  And they ultimately don't care about us.

• 40:30Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 40:31Speaker 00

  We've got to get to a place where we're not using these forces against each other.

• 40:36Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 40:37Speaker 00

  Because it's just slowing down where we could get to.

• 40:41Drew Afualo?

  Totally.

• 40:41Speaker 00

  You know?

• 40:42Drew Afualo?

  Yeah. And this is like, it's similar, but not, but like, um, in Hawaii, like when me and my family go back to Hawaii, like, we go every year, um, to visit family, live there, whatever. I feel like my most self there. And I feel like, uh, when we're there, there's like Malama da Ina, which is like to love the island, which is also, it's kapu, which is taboo, to take things from the island, specifically nature, right? Especially nature. So you should never take anything from a beach, like shells, flowers, whatever it is, like you should never take from it because it will come and take something from you. Like you'll be basically punished or cursed. And so I remember one time we were in Hawaii and my brother, my little brother, he was young at the time, but we were there and he was taking rocks out of the ocean to like go stack on the beach,

• 41:25Drew Afualo?

  which like, that's not taking it from Hawaii, but still you're removing it from where it was. And I kept telling him, stop doing that. It's kapu to do that. Like it's something bad might happen. So stop doing that. And he was like, ah, I think it's fine. And literally like in maybe 10 or 15 minutes later, no waves, we're in the beach, no waves the whole time we're there. One giant wave came and literally crashed into my brother as he was walking out with another rock. As he was walking out, crashed and knew him, like tumbled him on the beach and he like sat up, his board shorts fell down a little bit. He was like, and he sat up like all eyes all red. Like he just got, I was like, I told you, happened like right after I said it. And then he went and put all the rocks back in the ocean.

• 42:05Speaker 00

  Well.

• 42:07Drew Afualo?

  Lesson learned.

• 42:08Speaker 00

  I like to say, and I think hearing you talk about all of this, it feels very much like, of course, this is how a Virgo would relate to magic is like, it just makes logical sense, you know?

• 42:24Drew Afualo?

  Adding logic.

• 42:26Speaker 00

  Exactly. Like if we look at Pythagore's theorem, but like, no. I just feel like you can look at the logical choice, you can look at everything, and you can also look at the fun choice.

• 42:39Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 42:39Speaker 00

  And then just choose the fun choice. You know, life is difficult these days and sometimes we have to choose silliness and whimsy.

• 42:49Drew Afualo?

  I agree.

• 42:50Speaker 00

  And. My favorite witches don't take themselves too seriously.

• 42:54Drew Afualo?

  Mine too.

• 42:56Speaker 00

  They have great senses of humor.

• 42:57Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 42:58Speaker 00

  They're like, I know how nerdy I am and it makes me very happy.

• 43:02Drew Afualo?

  Exactly, and more people should try it, honestly.

• 43:04Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 43:05Drew Afualo?

  I think more people should dabble. I think the world would be better off for it. Plus, witchcraft is almost primarily dominated by women.

• 43:12Speaker 00

  And we already practice so many forms of it.

• 43:15Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 43:15Speaker 00

  We just don't talk about it because of, you know, generational efforts to call it something else.

• 43:22Drew Afualo?

  Right, I agree. Trying to stomp us out like that. But I do, I mean, I want to ask you a couple more questions first about like Broadway, like how it's been, like how is like the journey been? And like, I know it's probably, oh my god, so much work, crazy, eight shows a week.

• 43:37Speaker 00

  I always say when your dreams come true, that's when the real work begins. You know, because, yeah, like getting to a level in a very competitive Sorry, we hit our vape pens before, our weed pens before this and I have some resin in my

• 43:59Drew Afualo?

  And she's not kidding, we didn't do that.

• 44:01Speaker 00

  I've been trying so hard to play

• 44:05Speaker 00

  No, it's like, it is a lot of hard work.

• 44:07Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 44:08Speaker 00

  To maintain a career in this industry.

• 44:11Drew Afualo?

  Totally.

• 44:12Speaker 00

  You know, and with success comes more like expectation.

• 44:19Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, totally.

• 44:20Speaker 00

  And, and, and bigger commitments to bigger projects. And I gotta say, I'm so, I've, I've felt ready for it my whole life, but I'm so glad it didn't happen until it did. Cause if I still drank, none of this would be going on. Like I could not do.

• 44:40Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 44:41Speaker 00

  I'm so glad that I worked on myself. First, because I chose to.

• 44:46Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, totally.

• 44:47Speaker 00

  And then, certain things in my career started.

• 44:50Drew Afualo?

  Falling into place.

• 44:51Speaker 00

  Yeah, and it's like, again, like, I don't look the gift horse in the mouth. I just know what's been working. And I keep going in that way. And I think a big part of what works is just loving what I do, you know?

• 45:06Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, absolutely.

• 45:08Speaker 00

  And.

• 45:08Drew Afualo?

  And you've been working your ass off, so yeah.

• 45:10Speaker 00

  I like it, though.

• 45:12Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, me too. I also love to work.

• 45:13Speaker 00

  It is the happiest I've ever been. And of course, I could always take more downtime. But at about 10 days, I start getting like, okay, okay.

• 45:24Drew Afualo?

  That same birthday is really shining through.

• 45:26Speaker 00

  I have to have productive vacations.

• 45:28Drew Afualo?

  Me too.

• 45:30Drew Afualo?

  Me too. Like, after a certain time, I'm like, okay, I'm ready to go back.

• 45:33Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 45:33Drew Afualo?

  And my type of vacation, I really don't like going and doing a bunch of stuff. I like to like lay completely still. And then after a certain time, I'm like, okay, I'm ready.

• 45:42Speaker 00

  I need like a solid week of just absolute nothing.

• 45:46Drew Afualo?

  Me too.

• 45:47Speaker 00

  Like, I can't, I can't even begin to enjoy myself until I've had a week of no responsibility.

• 45:53Drew Afualo?

  Me too.

• 45:53Speaker 00

  And then I can responsibly have fun.

• 45:56Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 45:59Drew Afualo?

  I know sometimes when we go on our like vacations, like to Hawaii specifically, when we go back home for a bit, I literally tell everyone, I'm like, you can come, but like, I'll tell you what I'm doing, nothing.

• 46:08Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 46:09Drew Afualo?

  If you want to traipse around the island, feel free, I'm doing nothing.

• 46:12Speaker 00

  I have to know ahead of time what vaca- like.

• 46:15Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 46:15Speaker 00

  I went to Mexico City for 11 days, three years ago, had the time of my life, we did everything. And then for this most recent vacation, I said, the last vacation we did, we went everywhere, we saw everything, we did everything. I didn't complain once. I think, maybe, maybe once.

• 46:35Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 46:35Speaker 00

  But the point is, I had a say yes attitude.

• 46:38Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 46:39Speaker 00

  This vacation needs to be zero. Zero. So we, we rented a McMansion in Palm Springs and laid around for a week catching me up on Drag Race.

• 46:52Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my God. And it's the best. Is it not the best? You just go and if you swim.

• 46:56Speaker 00

  I don't even like the sun.

• 46:58Drew Afualo?

  No, yeah.

• 46:58Speaker 00

  I like, I like a beach town laissez faire attitude, though. People were almost mad to like, serve you coffee because they're like, why would you ask me to do something? It's Palm Springs.

• 47:13Drew Afualo?

  They're like, that's not what we do here.

• 47:15Speaker 00

  I don't drink coffee, but all the coffee drinkers in the group were like, yeah, they did not want us there.

• 47:21Drew Afualo?

  They were like, go home. Everybody needs to go home. That's so funny. I feel the same way about vacation. Even like, I turned 30 last year and like.

• 47:30Speaker 00

  Congrats.

• 47:31Drew Afualo?

  Thank you. Oh, my God. I was so, I hated 29 solely because I wished I could have skipped 28 and gone straight to 30. Just because 29 felt like holding on to my 20s. Felt like I was like, I'm still 29.

• 47:43Speaker 00

  There's so much pressure on your 20s and once they're gone, you're like, good riddance.

• 47:49Drew Afualo?

  No, for real.

• 47:50Speaker 00

  I'm just glad I survived.

• 47:51Drew Afualo?

  I know. I never forgot. For real. Like, your 20s are for when you're like, you're most chopped, you're most unsuccessful.

• 47:58Speaker 00

  Most volatile, most erratic, most like, especially, okay, so I like, was very, very goal oriented my whole life.

• 48:08Drew Afualo?

  You and me both.

• 48:09Speaker 00

  And then I graduated college and I was like, okay, well, I did it and here I am. And it's kind of starting, but I feel like I missed a lot of shit that other people were doing. And it was like, as soon as I popped the cork, I was like, oh, this is why people party. And so I had to go through my phase of like, figuring out what everyone else figured out in high school and college, you know?

• 48:34Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 48:35Speaker 00

  Essentially, my limits. And I told you, I'm an all or nothing person. Turns out I'm a, when it comes to alcohol, I'm a nothing.

• 48:47Drew Afualo?

  Found that out.

• 48:47Speaker 00

  But weed, I'm in awe.

• 48:49Drew Afualo?

  Me too, you and me both, queen.

• 48:51Speaker 00

  And again, I don't know why it works, it just works.

• 48:56Drew Afualo?

  I really think it's because it allows me to like relax for a second. Like the way my brain functions and works, like weed just gives me, it gives me what I think I see other people experience, which is just like nothing. I never don't experience nothing in my brain. Like there is something always cooking up here. And then sometimes when people are just staring off into space, I don't have that. Like I'm just constantly thinking and planning and.

• 49:20Speaker 00

  Yeah, when I look like I'm staring off into space, there's normally three conversations.

• 49:24Drew Afualo?

  Exactly, yeah.

• 49:25Speaker 00

  Weed does, like, maybe it's the ritual I have around it where like, I'm gonna hit my pen, so everyone let me be alone for a second. You know, it's kind of like, don't talk to her, she's.

• 49:38Drew Afualo?

  She's occupied.

• 49:40Speaker 00

  She's not here, man, you know?

• 49:43Speaker 00

  But it does kind of take the, even if it doesn't calm all the conversations, it takes them down from like six to two conversations.

• 49:52Drew Afualo?

  My god, that's how I feel too.

• 49:54Speaker 00

  And I like to say I'm ten, I got this from my friend Alexandra. Alex at Twin Temple, one of my favorite bands, Satanic Do-Op.

• 50:05Drew Afualo?

  Okay, dude.

• 50:08Speaker 00

  She is of the same persuasion, she says, 10% stupider, 100% happier.

• 50:17Drew Afualo?

  That's so true. When I was in college, I, and I hadn't smoked weed yet. One time I asked one of my girlfriends, like we were drinking and I was like, how does it feel? Like, how do you feel when you're high? And then she said to me, it feels like, when I'm really high, it feels like the worst thing in the world could happen in front of me. And I would be like, oh my god. But at the same time, I would be like, it's alright. It's alright. That's really how I feel about weed, I'm like, that's so true.

• 50:47Speaker 00

  And I know that it makes some people extra anxious.

• 50:50Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 50:51Speaker 00

  It's like. And so much of life is a choose your own adventure. And that's the hardest part is that like we are raised in our country, but in most countries, you know, we all have our societal, cultural norms.

• 51:07Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 51:08Speaker 00

  So you're raised believing this is the way to be and any deviation from that means you're either broken, sick, disturbed.

• 51:19Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 51:19Speaker 00

  You know, and it's just like, we all gotta fight. Like, why would you want to spend any amount of your short life, living it unhappy because someone else that you don't even know told you so?

• 51:33Drew Afualo?

  Right, yeah. I'm not down with that personally.

• 51:37Speaker 00

  Me neither.

• 51:39Drew Afualo?

  Like, what's your favorite strain of weed? Do you like a sativa?

• 51:42Speaker 00

  It's situational.

• 51:44Drew Afualo?

  Is it?

• 51:44Speaker 00

  I like to vape my sativas because, you know.

• 51:47Drew Afualo?

  Interesting.

• 51:47Speaker 00

  I vape regularly throughout the day. So I've got a sativa that I like to say pairs well with my fistful of mood stabilizers and hormones. It keeps me peppy through the day. And then at the end of the day, it's all indica.

• 52:04Drew Afualo?

  Oh, yeah.

• 52:05Speaker 00

  Hybrid if I'm out with friends.

• 52:07Drew Afualo?

  I know, I do love hybrids.

• 52:09Speaker 00

  If they're drinking, then I'm like, you know. And only, you know, I'm almost seven years of no alcohol. And recently, I've started microdosing mushrooms. I, again, I thought that mushrooms were an all or nothing thing. I didn't know you could just have a little and feel like just a little like.

• 52:30Speaker 00

  So I do find, as a California sober person, if I have to be around drunk people, I can stand it better if I'm.

• 52:39Drew Afualo?

  The mushrooms?

• 52:39Speaker 00

  Just a little, just a little mushrooms there.

• 52:42Drew Afualo?

  Ooh, interesting, good to know. I haven't tried shrooms yet. I'm a little nervous.

• 52:46Speaker 00

  Again, you gotta find your balance because you can tip the scale real quickly.

• 52:50Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, you can always add, but never subtract. That's how it was about edibles. I saw, I saw a video once where this guy was like, the thing about edibles is like, once you find your number, it's the best thing in the world.

• 53:02Speaker 00

  You can do your whole day with a smile on your face. I always say it's like, I don't need weed to get through my day, but you're all gonna enjoy me a lot more.

• 53:15Speaker 00

  We're all gonna get along better.

• 53:17Drew Afualo?

  It's in everyone's best interest that I, just a little. It's true, my sister and I literally.

• 53:23Speaker 00

  Thyself.

• 53:24Drew Afualo?

  Yes, we have to. I told my, my sister and I joke, we call it purse pen, cause we have like, I have a pen at home, I have a pen in my purse, I have a, and then I forgot my purse pen last week when I was traveling for work and I was filming like a commercial on the beach for like 12 hours. So I told her, I was like, can I please borrow your purse pen dude? I need it. And then I'm hitting it a couple of times, I'm like, alright, let's go run on the beach.

• 53:44Speaker 00

  When you have to ration it, when you find yourself somewhere where you suddenly don't have it.

• 53:48Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, like internationally.

• 53:50Speaker 00

  Yeah, and then, and then you're suddenly rationing it. Isn't that the, you suddenly feel like, is this what feeling high is like? Again, when you're not consistently just a little stoned, you're like, right, this is what it feels like to get high.

• 54:11Drew Afualo?

  I never have that feeling anymore. I miss it though.

• 54:15Speaker 00

  Oh my god, I feel so like.

• 54:19Drew Afualo?

  I know, we're like, parallel universe. No, it's true. And then sometimes because I partake so often now, um, like, have you had a bad like trip recently on it or like greened out or anything recently? Have you done that in?

• 54:33Speaker 00

  It's usually at the end of the day, it's accumulative. It's like, oh, she's gone.

• 54:38Drew Afualo?

  We've lost her.

• 54:40Speaker 00

  All production, all, like, we're not gonna get anything usable.

• 54:45Drew Afualo?

  A couple of years ago, I took edibles in New York that truly sent me into a K-hole. I for real was like, what the fuck? Like, I woke up and I literally felt like I was looking through a pinhole.

• 54:56Speaker 00

  You were in the sunken place.

• 54:57Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I for real was. And I remember I turned to my man, cause like I had to get on a flight in like two hours. And I was like, if I go to the airport like this, I'm gonna get arrested because I'm, I'm moving and acting strange. And then I turned to my, my fiance and I was like, I was like, babe, babe, babe, wake up. I think something's wrong with me. I think I'm like fucked up, like bad. And he turned around, my fiance for reference has uh, hooded eyes. So he has a very like, strong forehead and very hooded eyes. And I can never really fully see his eyes because they're almond and hooded. He turned around, eyes like this, he goes, yeah, I'm fucked up. And then I got scared and I felt like my trip got worse. Cause I was like, oh my god, oh my god, you look scary.

• 55:35Speaker 00

  You're my rock.

• 55:38Drew Afualo?

  I was like, if you're fucked up, then I'm fucked.

• 55:40Speaker 00

  I have never been too stoned for the airport, but I have been that

• 55:46Drew Afualo?

  That was the only time.

• 55:47Speaker 00

  Where I'm like, everyone knows.

• 55:49Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 55:50Speaker 00

  I have to act extra normal, but then I'm like, picking up cookies, like.

• 55:56Drew Afualo?

  You're like, this is what humans do.

• 55:58Speaker 00

  Twelve chocolate chips.

• 56:04Drew Afualo?

  You're counting tile.

• 56:05Speaker 00

  Meal, you say? I'll try a scoop, barkeep.

• 56:10Drew Afualo?

  You have a transatlantic accent?

• 56:13Speaker 00

  Yeah, you're Katherine Hepburn all of a sudden, because you're traveling, darling.

• 56:19Drew Afualo?

  I'm like, ah, see?

• 56:22Drew Afualo?

  That's so funny. I did that once when I was hosting something for Moana 2.

• 56:29Drew Afualo?

  Sorry about that. I was like, and I was, I'd been working all day. That was my last thing of the night. And I was in the green room and I found my pen and I was hitting that bitch. I was like, going crazy. And then like I hit it one more time and I was gonna go to the restroom really quick down before I had to go upstairs to like host something for an hour straight. So I'm hitting my pen like crazy. I walk outside, but then I remember there's other people down there. So I didn't want to blow smoke. So I just kept it in and then I was like, you know what I mean? Like you're like start choking. And then I went, I was like, I'll just go in the bathroom. There was like two separate stalls down there. And so I was like, my mom went in one, I went in the other. I'm in there. As soon as I close the door, I start hacking. I'm like,

• 57:08Drew Afualo?

  like just trying to get it all out. Eyes bloodshot red. I come out of the door. My mom goes, are you okay? And then I go, yeah, why? Me getting scared. Like I'm like, yes. And then she was like,

• 57:20Speaker 00

  Why would you ask?

• 57:21Drew Afualo?

  Yeah. She was like, why are you coughing like that? And I go, you can hear me in there? She was like, yeah, it's not stone. She's like, it's not stone. What the fuck? I was like, because I'm high. I'm like thinking, oh, no one can hear me in here. And then I go upstairs and then I had about 30 minutes before I had to host for an hour. I'm like, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend are here with their kids. I need to lock it up. So I was like, I was like, shit, what am I gonna do? Cause like my thing is I don't get the scaries. I just get too silly. That's what I like to call it. So I'm like, I'm gonna go up there and make a boob joke and I need to, I need to keep it right. I need to get right with God right now. That's what I need to do. So then I was like, I feel like I have to go outside and have the zoomies.

• 58:01Drew Afualo?

  Like a dog. I just gotta run around in a circle for a couple of times. So what I did instead was like my cousin, who's my hair and makeup artist was, was there. And I just started telling a million jokes. Like, I was just like firing off jokes about anything I saw, anything I thought about. And then I felt like I got it all out of my system. Because I was just being inappropriate with him, like making all these dumbass jokes. And I was like, alright, I'm ready to go.

• 58:23Speaker 00

  That's, again, why you gotta have the right people around you. Like, Skye knows exactly when I'm like, oh, we have a... If I start getting too...

• 58:37Speaker 00

  He makes a deep cut reference to The Simpsons. The episode where Ned Flanders loses his cool and freaks out on everyone.

• 58:48Speaker 00

  Skye will start going, "Calm down there, diddly, diddly, diddly, diddly."

• 58:56Speaker 00

  Because I'm sitting there going like, "They can't just..." "No, I'm gonna..." "Oh, oh, diddly, diddly, diddly."

• 59:03Speaker 00

  And usually that'll make me laugh, and then the rage will subside. Like, if you can genuinely make me laugh, I can't stay angry.

• 59:11Drew Afualo?

  No, me too.

• 59:11Speaker 00

  Um, so that usually just reminds me, "We're just, we're just telling jokes here." "We're just having silly fun."

• 59:21Drew Afualo?

  That's when I remember, I'm like, "This is a made up job. It's okay." "This is a made up job and everything's gonna be okay." And now for a special part of today's show, a new segment we're calling Too Good For You, Paige. And it's brought to you by Too Good & Co Coffee Creamer. Today, we're gonna dive into the most unexpectedly uplifting trends online, or in the world, that prove you can balance the fun, the flavor, and the good all at once, just like Too Good Creamers. They're made with farm-fresh cream, real milk, and contain three grams of sugar per serving. That's 40% less than the five grams per serving in leading traditional coffee creamers for a rich, delicious experience.

• 1:00:06Drew Afualo?

  Whether you enjoy your coffee hot, cold, bold, or frothy, Too Good Coffee Creamers make every sip a good one. Too Good Coffee Creamers, real goodness in every sip. Find them at your local retailer in the creamer aisle. Okay, my favorite online trend right now is this trend where it's like friends, couples, whatever, but mostly friends. I've been seeing lots of like girls do it with their girlfriends. They set up the camera and then they pretend they're on live and they're reading comments, but they're just throwing shade at each other. So they're like, it said, why did you date a homeless person for a year? That's crazy. How did they know that? That's my new favorite trend right now. I love to make fun of my friends.

• 1:00:47Speaker 00

  I haven't seen this. I, I, I.

• 1:00:51Drew Afualo?

  You gotta try it.

• 1:00:52Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:00:53Drew Afualo?

  Anything small that brought you joy lately?

• 1:00:54Speaker 00

  I love watching people play. Like there's lots of videos online of people playing, is it a twink or a lesbian? And so you can play based off of haircuts or fashion or piercings.

• 1:01:13Drew Afualo?

  That's probably a hard game to play.

• 1:01:15Speaker 00

  It's funny, I was watching a British person do it and it was like UK edition and it was mostly mullets. And it was an even mix.

• 1:01:25Drew Afualo?

  Not even a wolf cut? It's just mullet?

• 1:01:27Speaker 00

  Mullets and fades.

• 1:01:29Drew Afualo?

  Okay.

• 1:01:29Speaker 00

  And fades are still very big in the queer community, but especially in the UK. And I've gotta keep hip with this stuff because I'm going back there.

• 1:01:38Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, you're the president of the queer community. Yeah, you're the first lady.

• 1:01:43Speaker 00

  No, just the high priestess or something.

• 1:01:46Drew Afualo?

  And that was our new segment for this episode. Too Good For You page was brought to you by Too Good Coffee Creamers. Real goodness in every sip. Find them at your local retailer in the creamer aisle. Oh yeah, I was just talking to Jinx about how you are, you know a lot of things about things you care about. And random things.

• 1:02:08Speaker 00

  Yeah, I know. I know a lot of things about the things I care about, like especially when I get obsessed with something, I learn it inside out. And then, yeah, there's the things that like for one reason or another, I know way too much about.

• 1:02:23Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my god, me too.

• 1:02:25Speaker 00

  And sometimes like it'll like someone will just say the right sentence and then I start like, did you know blabbity blabby blah blah? And everyone looks at me like, why the hell do you know that?

• 1:02:38Drew Afualo?

  My sister once told me, she goes, I don't know how you know so many things because I know you don't read.

• 1:02:45Drew Afualo?

  It's like, that's not true. But I don't read like factual things.

• 1:02:48Speaker 00

  But when I do, I really absorb it.

• 1:02:49Drew Afualo?

  I'm the same way because and I've said on the show many times, like when I was a kid, I would like, learn about something and then for some reason I'd be like, I need to learn everything there is to know about this. So like I did, like a perfect example I always bring up is the Titanic. And I don't mean the movie, I mean the ship itself and just the history of the Titanic and like, like the logistics of the Titanic itself. And so much so, I learned so much about it. I was like so obsessed with it. I was like, this is crazy. This is such an example of hubris. Like that's what I was thinking as a child. I asked my mom to buy me books, like as a kid about the Titanic. But all the kid ones are like, don't have the details. So like my mom had to start buying me adult, books about the Titanic, the history of it. Then when I watched the movie, I like after the movie, I told my mom,

• 1:03:34Drew Afualo?

  is that a real story? And she was like, like of Jack and Rose? I go, yeah. She goes, no. And I go, pointless. Like I was like, they didn't talk about the crew, they didn't talk about the captain. They didn't talk about the history of the Titanic? Useless movie.

• 1:03:47Speaker 00

  The boats leading up to the Titanic.

• 1:03:49Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I was like literally like, yeah, the trial and error phase leading to the Titanic, the lack of lifeboats on board. Why? I was like, they did all the important shit. They left it out. What was the point?

• 1:03:59Speaker 00

  I feel that way. Okay, so I am that way about video games. And I really, really love video games.

• 1:04:07Drew Afualo?

  Oh, yes, that's right.

• 1:04:07Speaker 00

  But I've been playing video games my whole life. So this is something that usually, like when I

• 1:04:15Speaker 00

  I'm talking to straight guys, they are surprised.

• 1:04:19Drew Afualo?

  That you know so much.

• 1:04:20Speaker 00

  By how much I know and like deep cut information too.

• 1:04:24Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:25Speaker 00

  And recently, I got to go to the Blizzard Studios.

• 1:04:28Drew Afualo?

  Ooh.

• 1:04:28Speaker 00

  And they are a big video game designer that I've been playing their games practically my whole life. And I have never felt, only since Broadway have I felt so at home with people where we're sitting there talking about video games. Like the minutia. And they, and they wanna talk about it too.

• 1:04:49Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:49Speaker 00

  I'm that way with Greek mythology.

• 1:04:52Drew Afualo?

  I love Greek mythology. Oh my god, you're scaring me. I'm getting scared.

• 1:04:58Drew Afualo?

  I'm feeling fear.

• 1:04:59Speaker 00

  And I'm, I, I, I'm getting that way with witchcraft, but like the history.

• 1:05:04Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 1:05:05Speaker 00

  Of witchcraft and the perception of witchcraft, like so much, witchcraft is like witches are just a big part of human culture.

• 1:05:17Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:17Speaker 00

  Because they're powerful and women are powerful and the effort to suppress our knowledge of witches is hand in hand with the efforts to suppress the power of women.

• 1:05:31Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 1:05:31Speaker 00

  Like it is all, like, just witchcraft is feminism.

• 1:05:39Drew Afualo?

  Yes, it is. Absolutely. It's a huge part of it. It's also tied to like doulas and midwives and everything witchcraft because.

• 1:05:45Speaker 00

  I, I mean, like when you start pulling that thread, you don't have to worry about the magic. You should just care about the history of propaganda.

• 1:05:54Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 1:05:54Speaker 00

  That has been done against the entirety of women.

• 1:05:58Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, absolutely.

• 1:05:59Speaker 00

  Of womanhood.

• 1:06:00Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, especially the power of women, like you said, like it was like really a tactic trying to stomp out like women, understanding how powerful they are spiritually too.

• 1:06:08Speaker 00

  Um, lots of intersex and trans people in different cultures and communities.

• 1:06:14Drew Afualo?

  Absolutely.

• 1:06:14Speaker 00

  Have been spiritual leaders and that was also something that got stamped out. So.

• 1:06:19Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:06:19Speaker 00

  This is all part of, and you know, we, uh, we have big conversations about intersectionality. Um, and gender is like, it really does.

• 1:06:31Speaker 00

  It affects the people who seem to be benefiting from it too.

• 1:06:34Drew Afualo?

  Yes, absolutely.

• 1:06:35Speaker 00

  When you look at the men in charge, they're the worst examples of men.

• 1:06:41Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:06:41Speaker 00

  And then when you look at the men just following the rules, they are living this much of an existence because they're in the confines of what's acceptable for them, you know?

• 1:06:51Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, absolutely.

• 1:06:52Speaker 00

  No one gets to really start living their life until they break free from the gender roles that were pushed on them.

• 1:06:59Drew Afualo?

  Absolutely, gender binary as a whole, absolutely. I talk about that a lot too on here because I'm Samoan and there's a fa fa finis or a third gender that existed prior to being colonized. So like, we've been very aware of the relationship between gender, spirituality, all of that, especially in a lot of indigenous communities. Intersex people, third gender people were like deities in a lot of indigenous communities. They were worshipped and sought to be like all-knowing, especially because they had the power of both essentially, but they didn't adhere to gender binary whatsoever.

• 1:07:30Speaker 00

  The, the idea of the two-sex gender construct, the two, the binary. The idea of the gender binary is specifically a colonial white idea.

• 1:07:42Drew Afualo?

  Yes, it's a huge part of imperialism.

• 1:07:44Speaker 00

  And it is not based in biology or science or fact or reason. It is, it is propaganda.

• 1:07:51Drew Afualo?

  It is, and they get really mad when you say that.

• 1:07:53Speaker 00

  Oh yeah, because I, I like to say, because I know so much about ancient Greece and Greek mythology, it's in marble. We've always existed. We have always had places in society. The only thing that changes over time is the way people treat us.

• 1:08:10Drew Afualo?

  Yes, exactly. It's very true. That's why, that's why I think when I talk about colonialism on a larger scale and I talk about like, just the colonization and almost the, the attempt to erase like historical context from many different cultures, it's, it can really hit a nerve for people, especially cisgendered white people. Because I do stand up for the dolls all the time. I talk about dolls all the time. And I know it's important that cis women especially defend trans women because again, especially as a not-white cis woman. Like you said, it will affect me. Like it will affect like any sort of attack on transness. Will affect cis people as well.

• 1:08:50Speaker 00

  If we tell anyone that they're allowed dominion over a group of people.

• 1:08:59Speaker 00

  That's all it takes to then, and then they'll find a reason for another group of people.

• 1:09:05Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:09:05Speaker 00

  You know, you can't give that permission in any form, or it will. I mean, that's why.

• 1:09:15Speaker 00

  Yes, yes, yes.

• 1:09:16Drew Afualo?

  No one's free until we're all free.

• 1:09:18Speaker 00

  And I get frustrated because I, not to say that I'm like a perfect feminist or anything, but like, you know, we've had the bathroom conversation for so long.

• 1:09:30Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:09:31Speaker 00

  And like, what is the ethical thing to do there and how to respect everyone? And I'm like, I wish that cis women knew how scared I am of making them feel uncomfortable.

• 1:09:45Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:09:45Speaker 00

  Like, that is, like, that is my worst fear. I used to choose the men's restroom because if I'm gonna make anyone uncomfortable with my presence, I'd rather it be the men and I'd rather get into a fight with a man as to why I'm in there.

• 1:10:02Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:10:02Speaker 00

  But it became, it became stupid for me to go in the men's restroom.

• 1:10:08Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:10:08Speaker 00

  It was a problem.

• 1:10:09Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:10:10Speaker 00

  And if there's not a restroom for, you know, everyone, then I'm having to very quickly go into a women's restroom and hopefully not get seen by the person who's gonna have a problem with it.

• 1:10:24Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:10:25Speaker 00

  And also hopefully not make a woman who, for whatever reason, has misinformation and believes that she's not safe because I'm there.

• 1:10:36Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:10:36Speaker 00

  It's like, I know that this is, I'm not a monolith for the trans community, but most of us are more anxious about upsetting everyone else than we are like.

• 1:10:50Speaker 00

  Defiantly coming in to piss whether you like it or not, you know? Like, I'm just like, I just really actually need to pee.

• 1:10:58Drew Afualo?

  No shit.

• 1:10:58Speaker 00

  And I need to do it like everyone else.

• 1:11:00Drew Afualo?

  And also, are you, are you looking at every, are you trying, like, I was

• 1:11:03Speaker 00

  No, I'm usually trying to take up the least amount of space.

• 1:11:07Drew Afualo?

  I'm never looking at anyone in the bathroom.

• 1:11:08Speaker 00

  I mean, think of how you behave in the bathroom. Do you know who's horrible in the bathroom? As someone who's been in both, men's restrooms are just the nexus of hell. Like, men, oh, the sounds they make, and they don't give a shit.

• 1:11:23Drew Afualo?

  One of the seven circles.

• 1:11:24Speaker 00

  And then they'll talk on the phone while they're, oh, it's just

• 1:11:27Drew Afualo?

  They talk on the phone while they're taking a shit?

• 1:11:28Speaker 00

  I mean, I don't know, I, I, I, oh, like, who would want to shit around men, first of all? Like?

• 1:11:37Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, whoever wants to be around them.

• 1:11:38Speaker 00

  I think, I think men should, you know what?

• 1:11:43Speaker 00

  I'm going down a whole thing here. The point is, most of us just need to get it and get out.

• 1:11:49Drew Afualo?

  No shit, for real. And also, I'm trying to mind the business that pays us, for fuck's sake. I know, it's so not an issue. That's why I'm like, we're at war, we have bigger problems, we're at war. It's so not an issue in my, in my head, ever. And it's a smokescreen, obviously, it's, it's, it's a distraction tactic, which is another tool

• 1:12:09Speaker 00

  And wouldn't we all prefer private restrooms discreetly vaping anyway?

• 1:12:16Speaker 00

  That's not mine. I saw a comedian say that, um, uh, non, uh, gender, uh, gender neutral restrooms were created for trans people to discreetly vape.

• 1:12:30Speaker 00

  I can't remember who said it, but shout out to you, it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

• 1:12:35Drew Afualo?

  And me. I'm also discreetly vaping in the bathroom.

• 1:12:43Speaker 00

  Do you get mad about the people who are like, okay, like, in an Airbnb, and they're like, no smoking or vaping? And it's like, show me the logic behind why no vaping?

• 1:12:53Drew Afualo?

  Right. Just you're not cool.

• 1:12:59Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 1:13:00Drew Afualo?

  You're so not cool. Oh, so this is not a cool house. Got it.

• 1:13:04Speaker 00

  Oh.

• 1:13:05Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:13:06Speaker 00

  Everybody loves.

• 1:13:07Drew Afualo?

  And you know what I'm doing? I'm hitting it and blowing it under the covers. And then I'm sandwiching it like a Dutch oven.

• 1:13:14Drew Afualo?

  I'm Dutch ovening myself.

• 1:13:16Speaker 00

  Have you ever tried to blow it into your purse and then?

• 1:13:18Drew Afualo?

  Yes, I have, actually. It's funny you say that, because yes, I have. I've tried to blow it in my blazer. And I blew it down, went out the bottom. I said, "Well, that didn't work." I'm like, "Guys, did you guys see that? It got smokey all of a sudden."

• 1:13:31Speaker 00

  Oh, you always have to look around. Like, what the hell was that?

• 1:13:34Drew Afualo?

  Girl, is someone vaping in here?

• 1:13:39Drew Afualo?

  I'm curious, did you? Were you able to smoke weed while you were, uh, while you were performing? Does it affect your performance at all?

• 1:13:46Speaker 00

  Well, I like to say that I have a lot of tricks for maintaining my weed smoking.

• 1:13:54Drew Afualo?

  Love it. Period.

• 1:13:55Speaker 00

  Um, it's about minimizing other things. And, yeah, like, I have routines that change when I'm doing eight shows a week. For one, believe it or not, um, I exclusively smoke from a bong. Because it's keeping the heat as far away from my throat as possible.

• 1:14:15Drew Afualo?

  That's what I was asking. I was asking, like, logistically, if it's affecting the throat at all. It's so funny you say that about the bong. When I, I started smoking out of a bong again, like, last year. I got one for Christmas, uh, from, from my aunt. But I, I always say when I smoke the bong, I feel like the weed's fighting me back. Like, I hit the bong, the bong hits me. Like, that's how it feels.

• 1:14:35Speaker 00

  You've gotta hit the bong from your diaphragm.

• 1:14:38Drew Afualo?

  Right, yeah, literally.

• 1:14:39Speaker 00

  Make the space.

• 1:14:41Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, like, I remember the first time my friend taught me how to smoke out of a bong in college. She was like, "You can't be afraid of it."

• 1:14:48Speaker 00

  Have you done gravity bongs?

• 1:14:50Drew Afualo?

  Oh, yes, I have, actually.

• 1:14:51Speaker 00

  Yeah, those, those are still what can still get me.

• 1:14:55Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, oh, I bet. The first time I did a dab, uh, like, with the blowtorch and everything, I got the spin so bad, I had to lay down and go to sleep. I was, like, crying, and I was like, "I have to lay down. I have to close my eyes. This day has to be over immediately." Scary.

• 1:15:09Speaker 00

  It can still happen, folks.

• 1:15:13Drew Afualo?

  I know even the strongest of us can still be brought down. Sometimes when I, I was like talking to my team about like working with this like potential like weed drink thing. It didn't work out, but like they were like, oh, did you get a chance to try them? Like I sent them to you and I was like, yeah, I did, but the one whole can is five milligrams. And I was like, see, my thing is like, I need to be darted like an elephant. Like when the gorilla has to go to the dentist, like that's what I need.

• 1:15:39Speaker 00

  We're gonna need to wait for some laws to pass before we're gonna be able to sell what I wanna sell.

• 1:15:46Drew Afualo?

  It's a real me too.

• 1:15:48Speaker 00

  You know, so it's very much like I was telling you, uh, I like to microdose mushrooms.

• 1:15:56Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 1:15:56Speaker 00

  When I am in a Broadway show and I'm like looking at five months, eight shows a week, not planning to call out, I live like a nun, I say, but I still have to be a happy person. I always say, but if I'm bitter and resentful, this is all moot because, because you're not gonna get the magic.

• 1:16:21Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:16:21Speaker 00

  If I'm in a pissed off mood. So I do, you know, make all of the adjustments, but I also am very realistic. I'm like, would I be the world's most perfect singer if I stopped smoking? No, there's, like, I'd rather be the world's happiest singer.

• 1:16:44Speaker 00

  But I do take care of, it's more, it's like this, I feel responsible to my audience.

• 1:16:52Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, totally.

• 1:16:53Speaker 00

  So I will do what I have to do to still be show ready.

• 1:16:57Drew Afualo?

  I get that.

• 1:16:58Speaker 00

  And that'll, that'll mean adjusting my life as much as I have to, but I still find the balance.

• 1:17:03Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, have to. Yeah, you said for the sake of everyone.

• 1:17:06Speaker 00

  For the sake of everyone.

• 1:17:07Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I feel that way too. I'm like, when I don't smoke weed enough, like I feel like I turn into like Venom. You know what I mean, like, I feel like he starts speaking in my ear and like telling me to bash people's heads in the walls. And I'm like, I can't, I can't, and I'm sweating through my t-shirt.

• 1:17:19Speaker 00

  I feel like it roughs the smooth, eh eh, it smooths the rough edges.

• 1:17:24Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I see.

• 1:17:26Speaker 00

  I'm able to look at the things that annoy me and giggle about it and say.

• 1:17:30Drew Afualo?

  Me too.

• 1:17:31Speaker 00

  Um, and say, oh, that crazy cat of mine.

• 1:17:37Drew Afualo?

  One time I was like, I was supposed to go on this like brand trip, this is the one and only time I think I went, I tried to go on a brand trip. Missed three planes, random reasons, like I didn't get on the plane, went to the airport three fucking times. After the third time, I was like, I'm taking my sign from the universe, I'm going home. Something bad's probably gonna happen to me if I go on that trip. But the first time I missed a plane, I never miss flights, ever, I'm never late. So like, I, uh, not my fault, we missed the plane. And like, my, my agent calls me and she's like, I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened, like. Cause I'm someone who would freak out over stuff like that, like missing my planes, missing my, my like times for stuff, whatever. And I was like, yeah, no worries.

• 1:18:13Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:18:13Drew Afualo?

  And she was like, are you okay, is everything good, like? And I was like, yeah, no, I'm feeling good. And then the next day, she told me, she was like, I was so surprised that you weren't like stressed out. And I was like, oh, cause I was like thirty milligrams deep. At the time it happened, I was like, I can't react, even if I wanted to, can't.

• 1:18:29Speaker 00

  Well, um, I mean, and I also, I uh, work with a psychiatrist who uh, prescribes medication that helps me with a lot of symptoms that I deal with daily. Um, I, again, you know, I know because of times I've had to do it without the weed.

• 1:18:51Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:18:52Speaker 00

  But I also say this to myself, weed has existed for so long.

• 1:18:58Drew Afualo?

  And it's of the earth.

• 1:18:59Speaker 00

  And people have had a relationship to it for so long. I don't know. Is it colonialist to be anti-weed?

• 1:19:09Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:19:10Speaker 00

  I feel like, yeah.

• 1:19:11Drew Afualo?

  That's the kind of questions I'm asking when I'm high too.

• 1:19:14Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:19:14Drew Afualo?

  If anything, I'm fighting the power.

• 1:19:16Speaker 00

  If anything.

• 1:19:18Drew Afualo?

  I'm fighting the big man.

• 1:19:20Speaker 00

  This is just pagan activity.

• 1:19:22Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, this is me living in opposition.

• 1:19:23Speaker 00

  I'm being a witch.

• 1:19:25Drew Afualo?

  I know earlier you said you love video games. I also love video games, but I feel like you love video games more than me, I'd love to know what, what are your faves?

• 1:19:33Speaker 00

  Um, I play Overwatch daily.

• 1:19:35Drew Afualo?

  Oh, love.

• 1:19:36Speaker 00

  Now, this is like, um, I call it like a capture the flag with superpowers. All my, um, friends call it my shoot 'em up game.

• 1:19:46Speaker 00

  Because it's a lot of bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

• 1:19:47Drew Afualo?

  Are you like PC girl, or are you like on the console?

• 1:19:50Speaker 00

  PS5.

• 1:19:51Drew Afualo?

  Me too, I love my PS5.

• 1:19:53Speaker 00

  I need my, I need the controller. Clicking like this doesn't give me the same nostalgic feeling.

• 1:19:59Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:20:00Speaker 00

  Um, it, I, I have a digital PS5, which was a hard shift. Because I was, I've been so old school about so many things. I'm like, no, I miss the smell of you take it out of the, like, it's a little brand new. But, you know, I'd rather not contribute to the plastic waste. I just wish there was some way, like, you buy a game and then they send you like a little coin that says like, "Congrats, you got that game," maybe. I could put it on display, you know?

• 1:20:31Drew Afualo?

  Oh, nice. Or that, is Overwatch first-person shooter?

• 1:20:35Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:20:35Drew Afualo?

  Okay, do you like those first-person games more?

• 1:20:37Speaker 00

  That's like the only one like that I play. Mostly I play, um, uh, fantasy RPGs.

• 1:20:45Drew Afualo?

  Ooh.

• 1:20:45Speaker 00

  And I like to, even when they're like stressful situations. Um, it's about like, "Help us figure out the problem, uh, about, uh, you know, the, the, the, uh, the, the magic crisis in the eastern realm." I was just playing this one that was like so clearly about colonialism.

• 1:21:07Drew Afualo?

  Which one was it?

• 1:21:08Speaker 00

  And like, like the ills of, of white colonialism.

• 1:21:12Drew Afualo?

  Right, yeah, yeah.

• 1:21:12Speaker 00

  Um, and it's called Avowed. And basically, the whole way through, you can make decisions to either side with the colonialists. Side with like, um, not interfering, uh, with the, the land that's being discovered.

• 1:21:28Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:21:28Speaker 00

  And then trying to strike some kind of balance. And I was just like, this, it's so well-done that if you're not paying attention, you can totally miss it, but still learn the lessons, you know?

• 1:21:41Drew Afualo?

  Interesting.

• 1:21:42Speaker 00

  Video games have become, I think... They, for some people, that's like where they put the energy they would have put into a novel.

• 1:21:51Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, you're right.

• 1:21:51Speaker 00

  Because they found a different way to.

• 1:21:53Drew Afualo?

  To learn.

• 1:21:54Speaker 00

  To, yeah, that's how they learned.

• 1:21:56Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:21:57Speaker 00

  And so that's, that's how, video games made by video game lovers are the best, best video games.

• 1:22:02Drew Afualo?

  That's tea. Love that. I love, I also love video games, but I love, I don't like first person ones, but I love story ones. So I've, I love, I've like played all the Assassin's Creed's, I've like, I just played Ghost of Tsushima, Ghost of Yote. Those are like two of my new favorites.

• 1:22:18Speaker 00

  I was playing, uh, I was playing that one and sometimes when I'm learning a show, I ca, like, I just finished Devout because I had a week off and I was just like, I'm gonna play this game as much as I possibly can so I get through it.

• 1:22:32Drew Afualo?

  You're scaring me, I do the same thing.

• 1:22:34Speaker 00

  Sometimes when I'm like learning a new show, I can't play a heavy story game.

• 1:22:39Drew Afualo?

  Me too.

• 1:22:39Speaker 00

  Because I start getting the details mixed up.

• 1:22:43Drew Afualo?

  And I also, I also like, I'm like, that's all I'm gonna think about, I can't, I can't do it.

• 1:22:47Speaker 00

  And I start resenting the work I have to do because I can't play my video game.

• 1:22:52Drew Afualo?

  I'm not even kidding, yes, me too.

• 1:22:53Speaker 00

  Your family's laughing.

• 1:22:54Drew Afualo?

  I'm starting to sweat again because I'm getting nervous.

• 1:22:56Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:22:57Drew Afualo?

  Oh my god, I'm getting scared.

• 1:22:58Speaker 00

  So I was.

• 1:22:59Drew Afualo?

  You're so me.

• 1:23:00Speaker 00

  There, there's like a few games I started and then work got too busy, so I'll have to find another day.

• 1:23:06Drew Afualo?

  I literally, I didn't touch Ghost of Yote, I had it for like eight months, I didn't touch it because I was like, I, when I start that, I need to not be busy.

• 1:23:14Speaker 00

  So Overwatch is good for this because.

• 1:23:17Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:23:17Speaker 00

  It's just little rounds.

• 1:23:18Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:23:18Speaker 00

  Um, there's also, uh, Hades is a good game.

• 1:23:21Drew Afualo?

  Okay, I've actually just watched a trailer for a new game, a new Hades game, I think.

• 1:23:26Speaker 00

  Yeah, there's Hades and Hades 2.

• 1:23:28Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 1:23:28Speaker 00

  I haven't played it myself, but I love the story that's there. And it's one of those games you can pick up and put down.

• 1:23:35Drew Afualo?

  Okay, good to know.

• 1:23:36Speaker 00

  Not feel resentful. Cult of the Lamb is, um, kind of like Hades, but just a little lighter and a little more like, uh, easy to pick up and put down.

• 1:23:48Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I know, I, when they're fully immersive like that, plus when I play Ghost of Tsushima, Ghost of Yote, I put it in Japanese. So I have to like read the subtitles and everything and I waited till like my break around the holidays, I call it my Christmas break, like school. As soon as I was off, that's all I did, 12 hours a day, I was like.

• 1:24:06Speaker 00

  I had one week of like, I had like a couple meetings.

• 1:24:11Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:24:12Speaker 00

  And the rest of the time, I was just playing this video game.

• 1:24:15Drew Afualo?

  Over and over again.

• 1:24:17Speaker 00

  And kind of just like getting through it because and like trying to absorb as much of the story as I could. But also like, come on, come on, I only have a week to get there.

• 1:24:28Speaker 00

  And I made it to the end and I feel very accomplished because it's been a while since I've actually made it to the end.

• 1:24:33Drew Afualo?

  Oh, avowed.

• 1:24:35Speaker 00

  I can recommend avowed.

• 1:24:36Drew Afualo?

  Okay, I love, I'm not even kidding. I was like avowed, avowed, avowed, avowed. Because I was like, I don't want to forget.

• 1:24:41Speaker 00

  My favorite of all time is Dragon Age Inquisition. Have you ever played that one?

• 1:24:45Drew Afualo?

  No.

• 1:24:46Speaker 00

  It's real good. It's like that you'll, you need a month.

• 1:24:52Drew Afualo?

  I do. I need time off.

• 1:24:54Speaker 00

  You need a time off.

• 1:24:55Drew Afualo?

  I need to submit my PTO for that. To me. Okay, good to know. What's that one about?

• 1:25:02Speaker 00

  It's about the age of dragons. No.

• 1:25:06Speaker 00

  It's kind of your classic fantasy. There's like warring kingdoms.

• 1:25:11Drew Afualo?

  Love that.

• 1:25:12Speaker 00

  There's clashes between different colonies of like, you know, mythical beings.

• 1:25:20Drew Afualo?

  I'm sold, bitch.

• 1:25:21Speaker 00

  Mythical races.

• 1:25:22Drew Afualo?

  You're talking dirty to me now.

• 1:25:23Speaker 00

  They come from far off lands and they have horns, you know, they're called the Kunari. We have to try to understand them.

• 1:25:30Drew Afualo?

  I'm so excited.

• 1:25:31Speaker 00

  But it's like, it's always an allegory for something. And what I love about the Dragon Age series is the game Dragon Age Inquisition was the first video game I ever played where there was a trans character introduced and all of the rhetoric written around this character is like current day, like the correct rhetoric, not regressive, not like.

• 1:26:00Drew Afualo?

  Offensive.

• 1:26:00Speaker 00

  Offensive.

• 1:26:01Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:26:02Speaker 00

  But then your character has the option to say the wrong things. And then the other characters educate your character on why that's, why that's the wrong thing to say.

• 1:26:13Drew Afualo?

  No way.

• 1:26:14Speaker 00

  And when I saw that, I was like. You know, I'm, I've always loved video games and I've always felt a special connection to them as a solitary person. It's always been my one way to connect with boys and straight guys, you know, back when that mattered to me. And, um, but, uh, now to see that like, the queer video game player is being acknowledged.

• 1:26:42Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:26:43Speaker 00

  Um, it's.

• 1:26:44Drew Afualo?

  Beautiful.

• 1:26:46Speaker 00

  I love life. That's why I get so angry at the people trying to fuck it up for us.

• 1:26:51Drew Afualo?

  Right, for real, absolutely.

• 1:26:53Speaker 00

  I really, like, the people who piss me off the most are the ones trying to stop other people from living their best life. It just doesn't make sense to me.

• 1:27:03Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, in a way that doesn't affect them personally at all.

• 1:27:06Speaker 00

  Life's too short to let someone else tell you how to live it.

• 1:27:09Drew Afualo?

  And also fucking boring. Life without, life without gay and trans people is so fucking boring.

• 1:27:16Speaker 00

  Well, it's never existed.

• 1:27:17Drew Afualo?

  That's my point. I'm saying like, can you imagine?

• 1:27:20Speaker 00

  And it, we get to see how boring it is. I like to think that, like, these MAGA, like, events they put on as counter events. First of all, they're like, the, the, the Super Bowl halftime show they did, that's a glimpse into a world without queer people, baby.

• 1:27:36Drew Afualo?

  And do you want to listen to Kid Rock for the rest of your life?

• 1:27:40Speaker 00

  Like.

• 1:27:41Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, that's the barrel you're staring down.

• 1:27:42Speaker 00

  You know, and then you look at Mar-a-Lago face, that's what it looks like when you exclude the dolls, you know? We don't tell you our surgeons and you gotta find your own.

• 1:27:52Drew Afualo?

  For real, also a cabinet full of people with gender-affirming care. I don't want to fucking hear it.

• 1:27:56Speaker 00

  Hypocrisy is another thing.

• 1:27:59Drew Afualo?

  All there is is juvuderm in that White House. I don't want to fucking hear it.

• 1:28:02Speaker 00

  I can't, like, as a Virgo, once I logically figure out someone's being a hypocrite, I just like, you'll never win me over.

• 1:28:11Drew Afualo?

  No, literally ever.

• 1:28:12Speaker 00

  Until you undo your own hypocrisy, we can't even begin to have a conversation.

• 1:28:17Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, don't even bother me with the conversation. Don't want to hear it.

• 1:28:20Speaker 00

  Cause until you practice what you preach, I don't get to, I don't, I don't. I know too many good people to waste my time talking to bad people.

• 1:28:34Drew Afualo?

  Oh my god, same. Sometimes, because I think because of what I do, like the niche, the very specific niche I've carved out in like on TikTok and stuff, sometimes people ask me like, what do I do if like my, my boyfriend or partner or whatever, or like my friend is like bigoted? Or like doesn't, like, how do I talk to them? I don't know. I don't have people like that in my life. I like deadass. I'm like, I don't know. I hate bigots and I'm not friends with any of them. So I'm not really sure.

• 1:29:01Speaker 00

  Okay, so here's the best like thing someone said to me about myself that I would say, this is how you deal with bigots. Um, I have worked with many wonderful, straight male actors um, on Broadway, who have never treated me like anything other than the leading lady.

• 1:29:24Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, the woman you are.

• 1:29:26Speaker 00

  The woman I am, the leading lady. And I one time had a very candid conversation because it was my first time in a production as a woman. And um, I told my friend how much I appreciated that he never treated me like anything but the leading lady. And he said to me, you never gave me any other option. And I'm like, that kind of confidence is not, I mean, that's easier said than done.

• 1:29:54Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:29:54Speaker 00

  But when you have to claim something for yourself, so and you have to like, fight for it.

• 1:30:02Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:30:03Speaker 00

  Um, then it's easier to tell people like, stand down if you don't want a problem.

• 1:30:10Drew Afualo?

  For real?

• 1:30:11Speaker 00

  Like I fought too hard to get here to let you be the one who stands in.

• 1:30:18Speaker 00

  I've taken on bigger monsters than you in Hollywood for years.

• 1:30:24Drew Afualo?

  It's true. That's such a good way of looking at it. You're right. Like, a no-nonsense household. Like, it's a very, like, guest in the house to me. Like, I'm very like, you can hang out as long as you're respectful.

• 1:30:35Speaker 00

  My family was not perfect by any means, and, you know, I still had to unlearn plenty of conditioning that white people are taught by our culture and by our families, whether they mean to or not. But the rule always was, we can't judge others.

• 1:30:55Drew Afualo?

  You're right.

• 1:30:56Speaker 00

  Because then it invites them to judge us, you know, like...

• 1:31:00Drew Afualo?

  Totally.

• 1:31:01Speaker 00

  I, I only ever want to ask of other people what I'm willing to give them, you know? And I feel like, you know, to exist in this world, we didn't ask to be born on this planet, but here we are, sharing it. So we're all roommates, and just be good roommates.

• 1:31:21Drew Afualo?

  For real. I'm a real respect begets respect kind of bitch, so it's like, if you give it, I'll give it too. And if you don't, God help you.

• 1:31:30Speaker 00

  I won't disrespect you, but again, I'm just gonna, you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna...

• 1:31:35Drew Afualo?

  Log off.

• 1:31:36Speaker 00

  Bye-bye now.

• 1:31:38Speaker 00

  That's what the weed's for, to tune you out.

• 1:31:40Drew Afualo?

  Need that. Need that. Exactly. So I do have some fun facts for you.

• 1:31:46Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 1:31:46Drew Afualo?

  Now we're gonna pivot to your fun facts. And you can let me know if they're fun.

• 1:31:50Speaker 00

  Sure.

• 1:31:51Drew Afualo?

  Okay, so it says, the first one is easy, we kind of talked about it already, that you have described witchcraft as your philosophy. T, does that ever get any pushback from people when you talk about that?

• 1:32:03Speaker 00

  No, because I feel like those who practice Wicca as a religion, they refer to themselves as Wiccans, you know?

• 1:32:12Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:32:13Speaker 00

  And those who practice witchcraft, some people practice both, some people practice one and not the other.

• 1:32:19Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:32:19Speaker 00

  You know, it's all, it's a, it's a choose-your-own-adventure. I'd say more people are offended by me quoting the Bible to them or pointing out the hypocrisies in Christianity than they are of like, the way I identify as a witch, you know? Most witches are just happy you're doing something.

• 1:32:42Drew Afualo?

  Representation. That's what you're, you're providing them with representation. It's a beautiful thing. Okay, this next one says that your very first large-scale drag performance was at the Escape nightclub, where you popped out of a box dressed as a wind-up doll.

• 1:32:56Speaker 00

  Yeah. Ooh. That is like, that's very accurate. My first iteration of doing drag was me and my friend Etienne. I was always in the school play, so I didn't have time for an after-school job. So we would busk on the streets on the weekend, and we would paint ourselves up like mimes and bring a boombox and do drag numbers, but specifically like things from Pinocchio or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, so it was family-friendly.

• 1:33:25Drew Afualo?

  You were doing drag busking?

• 1:33:26Speaker 00

  Yeah, drag mime work. And then eventually, we started doing these numbers at the nightclubs.

• 1:33:32Drew Afualo?

  Nice.

• 1:33:33Speaker 00

  And that was our initial drag act. And then eventually, it was like, okay, I've done the doll thing, what else?

• 1:33:41Drew Afualo?

  I just saw your video where, I think it was like 2007, where you were doing Jinxalicious. I just saw that video, literally this morning on the way down here.

• 1:33:53Drew Afualo?

  I thought it was tea.

• 1:33:55Speaker 00

  That was one of those things where I got hold of the karaoke track, and I just did that number as much as I possibly could, because I thought I was the most clever little thing in the world. Now, I work with a music partner who writes my lyrics, so they get a little more clever. I still love writing parody songs, and I do in the Jinx and Dela Holiday Show every year. But I gotta say, like, you know, I was, what, 16 then?

• 1:34:24Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, your version of Jinxalicious was amazing. 10 out of 10 for me.

• 1:34:29Speaker 00

  You know, I'd love to, me and Fergie can have a licious off someday. A licious off.

• 1:34:37Drew Afualo?

  Have you performed Jinxalicious on like America's Got Talent?

• 1:34:40Speaker 00

  I want to perform it for Fergie's lifetime achievement.

• 1:34:45Drew Afualo?

  But it's about you?

• 1:34:48Drew Afualo?

  That's a great idea. Oh my god, I love that. Or she gets into like the Hall of Fame or something.

• 1:34:54Speaker 00

  Or I'll write, be a drag queen set to be Italian and anyway, this is, we're pulling threads here.

• 1:35:03Drew Afualo?

  Well, I think everyone should look into Jinx Delicious. I think it was a hit. It's a certified hit, in my opinion. Okay, next fun fact. Uh, when you were first starting out in Seattle, you worked as a janitor while performing in musical theater shows and finishing school.

• 1:35:18Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 1:35:18Drew Afualo?

  Oh my gosh, that's crazy.

• 1:35:20Speaker 00

  My freshman year, I got the work-study job as, um, the school janitor and I would, um, go to school four hours before my classes, clean the school and then take classes in those rooms that I cleaned. And I would be the person like, students would make messes. I'd be like, you, who do you think's gotta clean that up? I was like the mom in the theater department telling, like, telling my friends not to make messes, like.

• 1:35:56Speaker 00

  And then I, on breaks, I would, I'd go back and work at the nightclubs, but I'd also work at The Gap. And then I had like, I had a short, a short-lived job in food service.

• 1:36:09Drew Afualo?

  Me too. Very short for me.

• 1:36:11Speaker 00

  All that took was a short time in food service and I went back to being a janitor. I was like, I need people to stop talking to me. Like, I need to go back to put my headphones in.

• 1:36:21Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:36:21Speaker 00

  Let me do my thing. The place will get clean.

• 1:36:24Drew Afualo?

  Yeah. No, I would choose that too over serving. When I was a server for a little tiny bit in college, it was the worst job I've ever had.

• 1:36:32Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:36:32Drew Afualo?

  It was like genuinely terrible.

• 1:36:33Speaker 00

  I just, again, logic. Like, as soon as they have a problem, that I'm like, that's not a problem.

• 1:36:39Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:36:41Speaker 00

  That's not a real problem.

• 1:36:42Drew Afualo?

  Same.

• 1:36:43Speaker 00

  Then I can't fake it. So.

• 1:36:45Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:36:45Speaker 00

  I loved cleaning, so I, I. I loved cleaning for these reasons. It was solitary and I got to do it my own way. And people didn't care how it got cleaned, as long as it got cleaned.

• 1:36:56Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:36:56Speaker 00

  But I did do some disgusting things. I had to, I had to clean some disgusting messes.

• 1:37:01Drew Afualo?

  I imagine you cleaning like in the hallway and then you're finishing the math equations in the classroom too.

• 1:37:06Speaker 00

  Well, I went to art school, so there were no math equations. But I did continue doing custodian work after school. I, I did a hospital setting for a little bit. That was some rough messes.

• 1:37:22Drew Afualo?

  Oh my god, I can't imagine.

• 1:37:23Speaker 00

  But I also freelance cleaned people's apartments.

• 1:37:26Drew Afualo?

  Look at you.

• 1:37:27Speaker 00

  So my roommates were furious that I would go clean other people's places and then come home. I'm like, I'm too tired to clean our place.

• 1:37:36Drew Afualo?

  Well, hello. You're home. That's what I do for a living. You want me to bring work home?

• 1:37:42Speaker 00

  That's why I don't do karaoke.

• 1:37:46Speaker 00

  But yeah, yeah. It was a fun job. I liked it.

• 1:37:49Drew Afualo?

  You're a hardworking girl. Shit. This next fun fact says you own a 115-year-old home in Portland called Monsoon Manor.

• 1:37:57Speaker 00

  Yeah, and it's been queer owned since the 60s.

• 1:38:00Drew Afualo?

  Oh, I love that.

• 1:38:01Speaker 00

  It was sold from one queer owner to another queer owner. And then I bought it from that queer owner, who was also the supervisor at the Queer Teen Rec Center that I hung out at as a kid. And they sold me the house.

• 1:38:20Speaker 00

  They actually took our offer over the developer's offer because they were gonna tear it down and turn it into condos. So on either side of our very Portland witch house.

• 1:38:31Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:38:32Speaker 00

  Very Portlandy looking.

• 1:38:35Drew Afualo?

  Oh man, I can only imagine.

• 1:38:37Speaker 00

  Art sea DIY house.

• 1:38:39Drew Afualo?

  Oh, I can only imagine.

• 1:38:40Speaker 00

  On either side, there's like, you know, manufactured condos. So it's a little bit like the opening scene in Up.

• 1:38:46Drew Afualo?

  I was gonna say.

• 1:38:47Speaker 00

  It's like, it's a little bit like that. When I saw Up, I was like.

• 1:38:52Drew Afualo?

  I kind of was like, where'd you get that picture of my house?

• 1:38:55Speaker 00

  I felt that way.

• 1:38:59Drew Afualo?

  Someone's watching me. Oh, my God, that's so beautiful, though. I love that. I love that it's been passed down generations, too.

• 1:39:05Speaker 00

  It's a special house. Yeah, I'll never let it get torn down.

• 1:39:09Drew Afualo?

  And I bet it's super witchy, too, because of you. I'm sure. I can only imagine.

• 1:39:13Speaker 00

  We've put a lot of work into it, and it's not just me. The whole family. We really love that place.

• 1:39:17Drew Afualo?

  Oh, it's beautiful. Okay, last one fact. It says in 2013, you started an off-Broadway musical comedy called The Vaudevilleans?

• 1:39:25Speaker 00

  Yeah. Vaudevilleans. That was the show that I began writing with my music partner and then roommate. We met in college. We started living together in college. We started entertaining ourselves. We both had small parts in the show Our Town.

• 1:39:45Drew Afualo?

  Okay.

• 1:39:45Speaker 00

  And so we would pretend to be the oldest people in town, and we would like make up these jokes about like, "In the good old days," and then we started singing old-timey versions of pop songs, like as if, as if they were written way back when. And then that kind of morphed into this idea of what if they were vaudeville stars from the 1920s, who did write most of the popular music we know today?

• 1:40:11Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:40:11Speaker 00

  But never got the copyrights because they were lost at some point, and now they've come back. And we were like, okay, so how did they get lost and how did they come back? The premise was, we were two vaudeville stars who had gotten frozen alive in an avalanche. But the amount of cocaine in our systems kind of cryogenically froze us. And now we've thawed out and we're here to like fight the custody battles for our original music. So, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" was about the women suffragette movement. And Toxic was about Mary Curie's work in

• 1:40:52Speaker 00

  um, radiation.

• 1:40:53Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my god. Okay, you should bring it back.

• 1:40:57Speaker 00

  We, I would love to bring it back. I'd have to do some rewrites because I'm not 24 anymore. And I used to do the splits as like a big part of the show. It was like I built a lot of the show around doing the splits.

• 1:41:09Drew Afualo?

  Around the split specifically.

• 1:41:11Speaker 00

  Come up with a new bit, but, um, no, it's, I, I, I love, I love doing my work through the stupidest choices possible. I like to say I have serious conversations, very serious conversations that are very important to me in the stupidest way I can find.

• 1:41:33Drew Afualo?

  I get that.

• 1:41:33Speaker 00

  Because it's oftentimes the best way to communicate with people because, you know, they got enough people yelling at them and lying to them. I'd rather just be honest and silly.

• 1:41:46Drew Afualo?

  I agree. I agree. I've compared my, my content like, because I've told people before, like, everything that I'm teaching you is like not new. Like, anything you learn from me about like feminism, white supremacy, patriarchy, whatever it may be, is not new, right? And I was like, but I describe my like education of, of the people who follow me because a lot of them have been like, oh, I had never really thought about it that way. I'd never really unpacked my own like internalized biases that way. I always describe it or liken it to like putting a pill in cheese and giving it to a dog. Like, however you learn, if it's like through sillies, if it's through jokes, that's great. Just don't stop with me. Like, I always say, like, if this is how you intro to it and you're like, actually, maybe this is something I should look into.

• 1:42:30Drew Afualo?

  Maybe this is something I should care about.

• 1:42:32Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:42:32Drew Afualo?

  Then if that's how you learn, that's great. That's wonderful.

• 1:42:35Speaker 00

  And I wonder if it's been true for you that the more you reveal of yourself, the more you welcome more people in because they're like,

• 1:42:45Speaker 00

  Like, I thought telling the world that I practiced witchcraft was going to be a bad thing.

• 1:42:52Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:42:52Speaker 00

  But it got to this point where I was like, that's too much a part of my life, like, to try to not talk about it.

• 1:42:59Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, totally.

• 1:43:00Speaker 00

  So I started talking about it, and now witches come to my shows, and, and they're like, "That's a witch!" Like, there she is, she came!

• 1:43:11Speaker 00

  And, um, and I just, I love the fact that comedy has been my way to talk to so many different people.

• 1:43:20Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, likewise.

• 1:43:21Speaker 00

  Like, it, it's been, it's, it makes me happy, knowing that I chose laughter as a path in life.

• 1:43:28Drew Afualo?

  Me too, same.

• 1:43:29Speaker 00

  And it doesn't mean that I don't confront the hard stuff, and, um, I, I do the work so that my jokes are jokes I feel good about telling, you know?

• 1:43:40Drew Afualo?

  Yes, exactly.

• 1:43:41Speaker 00

  But, uh, I really feel like there's a reason why the Divine Theater masks are tragedy and comedy. Like, we learn, we learn from each other's experiences through those, like, extreme ends of the spectrum. Like, through our extreme joy and our extreme pain that we choose to share with one another.

• 1:44:03Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, absolutely, I agree, and I'm sure you get this too, like, sometimes when you expand further on a topic and it's not as silly, but like, like you have multiple times throughout the show, and then sometimes when you're expanding on that to some people, they'll be like, "Wow!", like, and even if you, if it's clipped and put somewhere, you'll see people in the comments going, "I did not think she was that smart."

• 1:44:25Speaker 00

  Well, I mean, people won't shut up about my episode with Zee Way talking about J.K. Rowling, and I was like, "We were just cutting up with each other." Like, I'm so glad it resonates.

• 1:44:38Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, no, deadass.

• 1:44:43Drew Afualo?

  I feel that way too. I feel that way too.

• 1:44:46Speaker 00

  You know, again, don't question it.

• 1:44:48Drew Afualo?

  No, for real.

• 1:44:49Speaker 00

  But I, I sure do love it. I sure do. I sure do. I, I feel honored to get to be in this place at this time because.

• 1:45:01Drew Afualo?

  It was for a reason.

• 1:45:02Speaker 00

  It's all, you know, being a performer.

• 1:45:05Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:45:05Speaker 00

  And I've never really cared how, like, I've done stand-up comedy, I've been a drag queen since I was 15 years old. Being onstage in theater is my favorite version of it, but.

• 1:45:18Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:45:18Speaker 00

  I find it everywhere, you know? I find it in these conversations.

• 1:45:23Drew Afualo?

  Absolutely.

• 1:45:24Speaker 00

  And I just think the world's a better place when we're allowed to do those things.

• 1:45:28Drew Afualo?

  I agree, especially you and I.

• 1:45:30Speaker 00

  To be.

• 1:45:30Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, especially you and I. I feel like you and I are so powerful in that, especially being born on the same day. I think you and I are so powerful in that, like, I could easily turn evil, but I'm not.

• 1:45:39Speaker 00

  I made the choice and I. You know, that's another reason I don't drink.

• 1:45:47Drew Afualo?

  It's true.

• 1:45:47Speaker 00

  But it's like, um, yeah, like, don't, don't push a smart, funny person too far.

• 1:45:55Drew Afualo?

  I'm telling you.

• 1:45:57Speaker 00

  Your best comedians are just one push away from being an evil genius. This isn't even, I don't have a punchline here. One of my lines I wrote down for my next stand-up special just says, "I've been spending a lot of time staring at myself in the mirror like a Batman villain." And I'm like, where was I going with this? That's just, uh, that's just something I feel like sharing with people.

• 1:46:22Drew Afualo?

  Just a thought starter.

• 1:46:24Speaker 00

  Just, I want you to know what I could be doing.

• 1:46:27Drew Afualo?

  It's true, but I choose not to. I say that all the time. I use my evil for good. I really do, especially me, I feel like it's a real Robin Hood situation. I am robbing, but at least I'm giving back.

• 1:46:39Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:46:40Drew Afualo?

  So it's all neutralizing.

• 1:46:41Speaker 00

  And what you were saying really resonated with me, that like, all the lessons that, I don't try to teach anyone anything.

• 1:46:48Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:46:49Speaker 00

  I just share with everyone what worked for me.

• 1:46:52Drew Afualo?

  Same.

• 1:46:52Speaker 00

  This is all just me paying it forward from somewhere else.

• 1:46:55Drew Afualo?

  I agree.

• 1:46:56Speaker 00

  I don't know the sources half the time. I just know that this is what worked for me, so you should do it too.

• 1:47:02Drew Afualo?

  Right, exactly.

• 1:47:04Speaker 00

  And that's coming from a Virgo, bitch.

• 1:47:05Drew Afualo?

  Yes, bitch, and write it down so you don't forget next time.

• 1:47:11Drew Afualo?

  Well, I fucking love you.

• 1:47:12Speaker 00

  Ditto.

• 1:47:13Drew Afualo?

  You're amazing. You're incredible and an icon, and this is me being serious, for once in this entire episode. I think you are so amazing and talented, which I know you know. But I really think that it's like divine timing that you're having this moment now especially. Like, people are, you are so brave and important. And I really am grateful that the internet specifically, because the world has known what a fucking star you are. I've known what a fucking star you are. But I'm glad that the internet at large and younger people get to see you in the light that you're in now. I think it's a beautiful, full-circle thing.

• 1:47:46Speaker 00

  Well, I feel exactly the same about you. And I think, you know, leaning into our authentic selves, knowing that we are providing representation for a community. It helps me remember that I'm part of something bigger.

• 1:48:09Drew Afualo?

  Me too.

• 1:48:10Speaker 00

  Especially when it's like, it gets very, it can get very like, "You're a goddess on earth and everyone is so lucky," you know? But it's, I make the time at the stage door to really listen to the young trans people who say, "I feel like I can do what you're doing because you're doing it." And I'm like, there weren't as many people when I was that age.

• 1:48:36Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:48:37Speaker 00

  But I noticed each and every one of them.

• 1:48:40Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:48:40Speaker 00

  And I know how powerful it is to have that moment. And like, I got to thank John Cameron Mitchell for creating Hedwig and the Angry Inch, because that, to me, told me there was a place for me to go in this industry.

• 1:48:52Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:48:53Speaker 00

  And when I remember those moments, and when I remember that it's, "That's the real magic." It's not, it's not my name in lights. It's that feeling that's getting, that went from one person to me to the next person. That's the real, real magic of what we're doing.

• 1:49:12Drew Afualo?

  I agree, that like cosmic exchange. I, it is, it does refill my cup too, when I feel frustrated or upset, because I, I know you know this, but like, sometimes it fucking sucks being the first. Sometimes it's isolating and it's awful and it's hard being the first in a lot of ways. But then moments like that, I've said many times, like testimonies like that from people. Who love me and they and they say things like, I never would have done this if it wasn't for you. I you changed my life, whatever. That kind of stuff reminds me, like, that's why I really love the job.

• 1:49:42Speaker 00

  It's actually humbling.

• 1:49:44Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:49:44Speaker 00

  Because what it is, is I didn't set out to do that for you. I just was doing what I knew I should do.

• 1:49:53Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:49:54Speaker 00

  And then it got to do that extra stuff. And so the fact that I get to do what I've always wanted to do and it has this positive impact. That's what keeps me humble.

• 1:50:03Drew Afualo?

  Me too.

• 1:50:04Speaker 00

  Like, the more I worry about the popularity of it, the more I get diverted from

• 1:50:11Drew Afualo?

  The purpose of it.

• 1:50:12Speaker 00

  What's special about our work.

• 1:50:13Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, like the real reason behind it. I think that all the time, too. I'm like, it's so much bigger than me. Like, it's so much bigger than me. And I feel, makes me feel more grateful for it, too. Because it can suck doing this, too.

• 1:50:23Speaker 00

  And keep the right people close.

• 1:50:25Drew Afualo?

  Yes, exactly. I was like, especially for the humbling part.

• 1:50:28Speaker 00

  Never replace, never replace, um, the people who are real with you with people who just tell you what you want to hear.

• 1:50:35Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my god, I know.

• 1:50:36Speaker 00

  Cause I've watched friends do that and I've watched them stop being my friend.

• 1:50:43Drew Afualo?

  And I never saw them again.

• 1:50:44Speaker 00

  And I never saw them again.

• 1:50:45Drew Afualo?

  No, and you're so right. I literally was just joking about this the other day. I was telling my, um, I was wearing my mom, right? I love, my family is always extremely humbling to me, which is a beautiful thing. I need that. Um, and my mom, the other day, literally like a week ago, I was like, we were going to meetings or something. I had a bunch of meetings or whatever. And I was wearing these, like, uh, suit pants. They're like pinstripe blue pants and I had like a little white top on. And so I had these exact shoes. I was like, let me try these on with the pants. I've seen girls do that. Put it on and go look in the mirror and I'm like, I'm not living this. Like, as I'm looking, I'm like, does this look bad? And my mom goes, no, it doesn't look bad. And I'm all, really? And then she goes, it doesn't look bad. It just looks like you're gonna go catch up on your steps at lunch.

• 1:51:27Drew Afualo?

  And my sister goes commuter shoes. I'm like, yeah, I was like, okay. Guess what? That did maybe change the whole outfit. I scrapped the whole thing, picked a new outfit.

• 1:51:34Speaker 00

  That reminds me, one of my favorite things, my grandma, who was the first person. My grandma, my aunt knew I was a drag queen before anyone else in my family, cause I trusted them to not worry about it.

• 1:51:47Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:51:48Speaker 00

  And I used to show my grandma my look for the night before I went out that night and see if she had any. Final notes, right? And one night, I had my hair and I had put a lot of work into this hair. Never been a strong suit of mine hair, right? This was not me today, you know? And I went and I showed her the wig and I said, "I think this hair works because I'm singing a country song tonight." And my grandma went, "Well, sweet pea, it's just that country singers are known for having really nice hair." Like, really well styled hair. And I was like, "Oh, my grandma just read me."

• 1:52:26Drew Afualo?

  It's like, really, that was a soft read. Yeah. Libraries open, damn!

• 1:52:33Speaker 00

  So I, I just, you know, I, I had the right people around me.

• 1:52:39Drew Afualo?

  And that's a beautiful thing and I love that. I fucking love you. I think you're amazing. I appreciate sharing a birthday with you.

• 1:52:44Speaker 00

  We'll have to trade numbers after this.

• 1:52:45Drew Afualo?

  Yes, we have to, absolutely. And you can't take it back because it's on camera.

• 1:52:49Speaker 00

  I know.

• 1:52:49Drew Afualo?

  So it's on the record.

• 1:52:52Drew Afualo?

  Just so you guys know.

• 1:52:53Speaker 00

  I know. I'm used to it.

• 1:52:58Drew Afualo?

  I, I think you're fucking incredible. I can't wait to continue watching you soar to all the newest heights and all the amazing things you want to conquer and win a Tony. Can't wait for that. I think you're well on your way.

• 1:53:09Speaker 00

  From your mouth.

• 1:53:11Drew Afualo?

  To the universe's ears, honestly. And, uh, that being said, oh, go ahead, go ahead.

• 1:53:16Speaker 00

  I just want to wish you all the best in your Broadway endeavors too.

• 1:53:19Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my god, thank you.

• 1:53:21Speaker 00

  There are plenty of roles that you don't need to sing for.

• 1:53:24Drew Afualo?

  And when you see me with a little goatee and a low pony, act cool. Everyone be cool. And no, we did it here.

• 1:53:32Speaker 00

  I will be front row and center.

• 1:53:34Drew Afualo?

  You're gonna be at the stage door?

• 1:53:35Speaker 00

  Because I'll be responsible for it. I'll have to put my money where my mouth is.

• 1:53:40Drew Afualo?

  That's why I said you'll be at the stage door for me? When I come out just as Hamilton?

• 1:53:44Speaker 00

  One, one woman show for a one woman audience.

• 1:53:49Drew Afualo?

  Just you and me in the theater. And the energy's electric. I can't wait for it. Thank you so much for coming on the show. I think you're amazing. For maybe the two straight people that watch me and don't know you, where can everybody find you?

• 1:54:03Speaker 00

  Oh, jinxmonsoon.com. That's J I N K X.

• 1:54:08Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 1:54:08Speaker 00

  I made it difficult for no reason. Monsoon, like the natural disaster. And I will be playing Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow.

• 1:54:19Drew Afualo?

  Yes.

• 1:54:20Speaker 00

  Off West End at the Soho Waltham. I can never pronounce this theater's name correctly, but you can Google it. And it's gonna be a lovely production.

• 1:54:32Drew Afualo?

  I'm so fucking excited. Oh, I can't wait. I'm so excited.

• 1:54:37Speaker 00

  Oh, and jinxandela.com for the annual holiday tour that we do through the US and Canada.

• 1:54:42Drew Afualo?

  Period. A busy girl, wearing many, many hats.

• 1:54:44Speaker 00

  Better busy than dead, right?

• 1:54:46Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, amen. Busy and high. Thank you all so much for tuning into this episode of the Comment Section Show. Everyone, make sure to go follow, uh, straight people, the two that watch me. Make sure you're also following Jinx on everything and tune into everything she's doing. Obviously, I called the Tony win first, so everyone has that record now. We all are apprised to the information. Thank you all so much for tuning in. Don't forget, new episodes of the Comment Section drop every Wednesday. You can stream the audio on all streaming channels, but the video is for free and exclusively on Spotify. Thank you so much to my amazing guest, Jinkx Monsoon. Thank you so much for tuning in, and I'll see you next week. Bye.